Sung-Hwan Kim was a career diplomat and served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea from October 2010 to March 2013.

With a career spanning over 36 years, he held a number of senior diplomatic posts including the Senior Secretary to the President for Foreign Affairs and National Security and Vice Minister of MOFAT. He was ROK's ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna and the ROK's Ambassador to Uzbekistan.

He was appointed as a Member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda in July, 2012.

After retiring from the Foreign Service, he served as the Chair of Institute for Global Social Responsibility and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Seoul National University until March 2015. He also taught at Hanyang University as a Distinguished Professor and served as the Chairman of the Gangwon Art and Culture Foundation.

He is now working as the President of Taejae Academy and the Chairman of the East Asia Foundation.