Kim Byung-ji (born 8 April 1970) is a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

who played for the South Korea national team as well as several clubs in the

K League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions ...

Playing career

Kim spent 24 seasons as a professional player from 1992 to 2015. He kept 229 clean sheets and scored three goals while playing a record 706 games in the

and

Korean League Cup The Korean League Cup was a professional football competition in South Korean football. It was held by the K League Federation from 1986 to 2012. Sponsorship Results Finals Titles by club K League's principle of official statistics is tha ...

. Kim was selected for the South Korean squad for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. South Korea lost 5–0 to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in its second match, and South Korean players couldn't avoid journalists' criticisms after the defeat. Furthermore, South Korea's manager Cha Bum-kun was sacked, although the tournament was ongoing. However, Kim struggled in the Netherlands' 17 shots on target, and became the only player to receive acclaim despite conceding five goals.

Style of play

Kim was a

sweeper-keeper The goalkeeper (sometimes written as goal-keeper, abbreviated as GK, keeper, keeps, or goalie) is a position in association football. It is the most specialised position in the sport. The goalkeeper's main role is to stop the opposing team from ...

who could show clearances outside the penalty area at a rapid pace. He also had great reflexes, and was skilled in making super saves. However, his excessively active personality sometimes resulted in eccentric plays. In a match of the 2001 Lunar New Year Cup against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, he was deprived of the ball after he suddenly tried to

dribble In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

, and embarrassed

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

, the former South Korea's manager. Kim formed a strong rivalry with Lee Woon-jae in the K League and the national team, and also competed with him for the position as a starter in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. Hiddink agonised over the choice of a goalkeeper until the start of the tournament, but selected Lee because of Kim's eccentric play in the Lunar New Year Cup.

After retirement

Kim is currently working as a

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

in the "Kkong-byung-ji-tv", his

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channel, after his retirement in 2015. On 27 January 2021, Kim was appointed a vice-president of the

Korea Football Association The Korea Football Association () is the governing body of football and futsal within South Korea. It sanctions professional, semi-professional and amateur football in South Korea. Founded in 1933, the governing body became affiliated with ...

(KFA). On 28 May 2022, Kim signed with entertainment company Angry Dogs. Kim became the president of Gangwon FC on 15 December 2022, and he resigned from KFA the next month to concentrate on Gangwon. On 20 October 2024, he played as a goalkeeper for Team Spear at the

Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. (formerly ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher. It develops and publishes titles including ''MapleStory'', ''Crazyracing Kartrider'', ''Sudden Attack'', ''Dungeon & Fighter'', ''The First Descendant'', and ''Bl ...

Icons Match, which invited retired legendary players. On 9 April 2025, Kim was once again appointed vice-president of the KFA by president Chung Mong-gyu, returning to the association.

Career statistics

Club

International

Filmography

Television

Honours

Player

Sangmu FC * Korean Semi-professional League (Spring): 1992 * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn): 1991 Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i *

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

runner-up:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Pohang Steelers *

runner-up:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

FC Seoul *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Individual * Korean Semi-professional League (Autumn) Best Player: 1991 * K League All-Star: 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015 * K League 1 Best XI:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

K League All-Star Game The K League All-Star Game is an annual association football exhibition match organised by the South Korean K League. The inaugural match was held in 1991. Blue vs White 1991 1992 Koreans vs foreigners Blue Dragon team consisted of ...

Most Valuable Player: 2000 Records * Most appearances in K League history: 706 appearances * Most clean sheets in K League history: 229 clean sheets

Television personality

References

External links

*
Kim Byung-ji – National Team Stats
at KFA * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Byung-ji 1970 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers South Korean men's footballers South Korea men's international footballers Ulsan HD FC players Pohang Steelers players FC Seoul players Gyeongnam FC players Jeonnam Dragons players K League 1 players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players People from Miryang Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games South Korean association football commentators Asian Games footballers for South Korea South Korean YouTubers Footballers from South Gyeongsang Province