Sung-Hun Kim graduated from Seoul National University and its Graduate School receiving B.S. and MBA. He also received M.S. in Statistics from the University of Texas at Austin, and Ph.D. in Finance from State University of New York at Buffalo. He was a research fellow at Korea Institute of Finance and a professor and associate dean at the Graduate School of International Studies, Kyung Hee University. He moved to Cheju Halla University in 2005 and became the president of the university in 2010. From 1997 to 2006, he served various roles in various committees at several ministries of Korean central government, including the member roles at Government-Owned Enterprises Management Evaluation Board, Accounting Supervisory Board, Government Innovation Evaluation Board, and Regional Offices of Education Evaluation Board. During the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was the advisor to Financial Supervisory Commission for the restructuring of banking industry in Korea, and successfully led the FSC team for the sale of Korea First Bank to a foreign financial institution.