Kim Young-min made his screen debut in the 2001 film Address Unknown by arthouse director Kim Ki-duk. In 2003, he appeared in another Kim Ki-duk film called Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring. In 2008, he starred in the romance movie Viva! Love, which won Best Film at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards. He also earned a Best New Actor nomination at the 45th Grand Bell Awards for his work in the movie. In 2014 and 2016, he reunited with director Kim Ki-duk for the films One on One and The Net. In 2018, he joined the main cast of the MBC drama Hide and Seek, which scored him an Excellence Award nomination at the MBC Drama Awards. In 2019, he was cast as a North Korean wiretapper in the top-rating tvN series Crash Landing on You, which was followed by a major role in the megahit JTBC drama A Couple’s World in 2020. His work in the latter gave him a Best Supporting Actor for TV nomination at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Film at the same award ceremony for the movie Lucky Chan-sil.

Kim Young-min graduated from the Seoul Institute of the Arts.