Career
Kim broke a South Korean record of 2:13.65 to take the bronze medal in the 200 m individual medley at the 2009 East Asian Games in Hong Kong, China. Kim qualified for the women"s 400 m individual medley at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 4:46.56 from the Dong-A Swimming Championships in Ulsan. She topped the second heat by nearly two seconds ahead of seven other swimmers, including former bronze medalists Sara Nordenstam of Norway and four-time Olympian Georgina Bardach of Argentina, breaking her personal best of 4:43.99.
Kim"s overwhelming triumph was not enough to advance her into the final, as she placed seventeenth overall in the preliminary heats.