With the 1997 television drama ‘The Reason I Live’, she began her acting career. She was given the lead role in ‘If It Snows on Christmas in 1998 despite her lack of acting experience. Along with Song Seung-heon, Hyun-joo starred in ‘Calla’, directed by Song Hae-sung in 1999.

She appeared in ‘Springtime’ in 1999, but the show received poor reviews. Hyung-joo starred in the well-liked and acclaimed drama ‘Into the Sunlight’. ‘Virtue’, a 2000 television series, she gave her first major lead role. She starred in the historical drama ‘Sangdo’ and the 2001 film ‘Her House’, both of which were released that year.

Kim Hyun-joo rose to prominence after appearing in the 2002 television series ‘Glass Slippers’. At the SBS Drama Awards, won an acting and popularity award for the drama, which was a commercial success. The series was well-received in numerous foreign countries as a result of her rapid surge in pan-Asian popularity. Vanness Wu, a Taiwanese actor and singer and Hyun-joo both appeared in the martial arts film ‘Star Runner’.

She appeared in the 2004 South Korean television series ‘Ms. Kim’s Million Dollar Quest’. ‘Shinsukki Blues’, a 2004 comedy movie featured Hyun-joo. In ‘Toji, the Land’, the television adaptation of Park Kyung-ni’s acclaimed novel, she played Choi Seo-hee. The high-profile film’s success led to her nomination for ‘Best TV Actress’ at the 2006 ‘Baeksang Arts Awards’. Kim Hyun-joo appeared in the South Korean television programme ‘In-Soon Is Pretty’ in 2007. Despite the drama’s lack of success, she received praise for her performance. At the KBS Drama Awards, she won a Top Excellence Award.

In the well-known drama ‘Boys Over Flowers’, which was adapted from the Japanese manga ‘Hana Yori Dango’, Hyung-joo was given a small supporting role. She played the role of a widowed lawyer in the 2009 legal drama ‘Partner’. She was also a part of ‘ECO Canada’ by Kim Hyun-joo, which aired on MBC Life. Hyun-joo published her book ‘Hyun-joo’s Handcrafted Story’, which was published on 20 December 2009.

Hyun-joo had a difficult year in 2010, as a result of the subsequent deaths of her closest friends and family. Later, as part of her volunteer work, she visited Bangladesh and the Philippines as a goodwill ambassador for the NGO ‘Good Neighbours’. Her charitable donation allowed for the construction of 11 libraries in 11 orphanages in Dhaka’s slum areas. She currently instructs elementary school students in Korea about poverty throughout the world in several classes run by the NGO ‘Good Neighbours’.

In 2011, MBC TV aired the South Korean television series ‘Twinkle Twinkle’, in which she played the lead role and resumed her acting career. She was given a ‘Top Excellence Award’ by the ‘MBC Drama Awards’ for her excellent performance. Kim appeared in the short film ‘If You Were Me 5’, which was commissioned by the Korean National Human Rights Commission.

Hyun-joo acted in the 2012 season of the South Korean drama ‘Dummy Mummy’.