 In his beginning career as naval officer, Kim was an active chief for PT boat repair during the Korean War, and saw operations with different scale in places like offshore Wonsan, north of the 38th parallel.In 1953, he went to the United States for a six-month study, learning maintenance knowledge at a naval yard in Virginia.He was also awarded the Chungmu's Order of Military Merit with silver star in 1953 for participating the war.