He was born in Moon-Kyung, South Korea, in 1938. From 1958 to 1966, he studied at Seoul University, where he later worked as a professor. He graduated in 1964 from the Faculty of Fine Arts (sculpture), after which he received his master’s degree from the Faculty of Education. In 1979 and 1980, he attended postgraduate studies at St. Martin`s School of Art in London.

Although true to its original culture and Buddhist roots, he kept up with the sculptural revolution of American and European artists during the 1970s and 1980s. Using mainly metal (primarily copper, occasionally combined with stone) he explores the expressive and textural possibilities of materials, colours and shapes, creating works that define spatiality through mutual interaction of different abstract volumes.

After his first solo exhibition in 1972, his works were presented at the 12th and 13th Biennale of São Paulo, in 1973 and 1975. He has exhibited in numerous exhibitions and participated in many symposia in Europe and especially in Korea, where his outdoor sculptures redefined the panorama of the city. One of his most significant works is the granite sculpture he created in 1988 for the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seoul.

He participated in the Mediterranean Sculpture Symposium in 1990.