Kim Young-ae received an MA and PhD in Art History from Dongguk University. Kim worked at the Academy of Korean Studies from 1989 to 1999 and compiled the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. At Snifactory, Kim planned and developed numerous Korean cultural content projects and planned and published catalogues and books related to the projects.

Books personally written by Kim include Living inside Temples, Cultural Assets Inside Temples; Filial Duty Culture and Contents (co-authorship); and Pioneers of Korean Studies (co-authorship).