Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's Premier Scenario contest, whilst his follow up Joyonghan gajok (1998) became not only his directorial debut, but also the source material for Takashi Miike's remake Katakuri-ke no kôfuku (2001) in 2001.

With an official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival and Best Film award at the Fantasport Film Festival for "A Quiet Family", his next film, 2000's Banchigwang (2000), was an instant domestic hit, maintaining the #1 spot for over 6 months, with over 2 million admissions, it was also a worldwide festival crowd-pleaser. The short Keomingaus (2000) and his contribution to Sam gang (2002) (alongside segments from Peter Ho-Sun Chan and Nonzee Nimibutr) followed and then he made the 2003 horror Janghwa, Hongryun (2003).

He is a fan of film-noir and claims that many of his films contain elements of noir, often mixed with black comedy. His movie Dalkomhan insaeng (2005) his full on film-noir gangster thriller masterwork.