Kim Hyun-joo started out as a model before launching an acting career in 1997 through the MBC series The Reason I Live. She got her big break in 2002 with the hit SBS melodrama Glass Slippers, which won her an Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2004, she was paired with Ji Jin-hee in the SBS romantic comedy Miss Kim’s Million Dollar Quest, which earned her another Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards. That same year, she played the female lead character in the SBS sageuk Toji, the Land, which gave her a Best Actress nomination at the 42nd Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2007, she was once again nominated for Best Actress at the 44th Baeksang Arts Awards for her work in KBS2’s Insoon Is Pretty. In 2011, she led the cast of the MBC weekend drama All That Glitters, which scored her a Top Excellence Award at the MBC Drama Awards. In 2014, she took home another Top Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Awards for the weekend family series What’s With This Family. In 2015, she raked in acting trophies for her dual roles in the SBS weekend series I Have a Lover, which also served as her reunion project with Ji Jin-hee. In 2021, they were paired once more in JTBC’s Undercover, which was based on the BBC drama of the same name.

Kim Hyun-joo attended Dankook University.