He was born in Seoul in 1935. He was a direct descendant of general Yoo Shin Kim who was of royal blood of Gaya in Three Kingdoms Period (from 57 BC to 668 AD) and united the Three Kingdoms. His family has been also filled various government posts generation by generation. Mr. Kim’s grandfather has financially supported Korean royal families of the Joseon Dynasty in early 20^th century so he could enter the palace of the Joseon Dynasty without any problem in his childhood.

Even though he was very talented in art, he had no choice but to major in law in the university following his family’s custom and request. However, he could not suppress his passion for art any longer in his twenties, so he learnt the technique of cloisonné from the last queen of the Joseon Dynasty, Mrs. Bang Ja Lee. His family’s wealth enabled him to do a lot of experiments in cloisonné art as he wanted with expensive glaze and so he could create various kinds of colors with his wife, Mrs. Soo Kyung Lee that are the core of the current cloisonné product.

Master Ik Seon Kim, who was Mrs. Lee’s companion and soul mate has left us in 2014 but all his aesthetic creations that he created with Mrs. Lee are still consoling our soul as a living artwork. Mrs. Lee is still making a cloisonné artwork which embraces everlasting soul for art.