Kim Jong Wook was born in Seoul, South Korea on 1961 and now resides in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. Kims major was fine arts back in university and before making pipes Kim worked as a painter.
Kim began smoking a tobacco pipes in 1983. He started making tobacco pipes in 2010, when the tobacco pipe club was opened online in Korea. Kim first began to repair and customize club members` tobacco pipes with the knowledge that he had learned from YouTube, Pipedia, and forum websites for tobacco pipes. Within 3 years Kim made about 200 tobacco pipes, and gained popularity from the club`s members. As a result, he was confident to change his profession from painter to tobacco pipe maker in 2013. Nowadays, Kim makes about 60 to 70 tobacco pipes a year.
The tobacco pipe makers who inspire Kim are H. Tokutomi, Bo Nordh, Lars Ivarsson, Tom Eltang and Alex Florov. Kim makes tobacco pipes that shows a lot of bird eye and reinterpret classic shapes to modern shapes.