Officers said no signs of foul play had been found and they were investigating the cause of death.

Kim began her career as a child actor and was seen as one of South Korea's most promising young actresses. Born in Seoul in 2000, she rose to prominence with her role in 2009 film A Brand New Life - which saw her appear at the Cannes Film Festival. She went on to star in South Korea's highest grossing film of 2010 The Man from Nowhere and 2012 thriller The Neighbour, for which she received award recognition.

Other notable roles include the 2014 film A Girl at My Door and television roles such as Mirror of the Witch in 2016. The actress largely withdrew from the public eye in 2022 due to a drink driving incident, for which she was fined 20 million won (£11,000) in April 2023. Kim's last role was in Netflix's 2023 Korean drama Bloodhounds. Variety reported that most of her role was edited out due to the driving incident.