Sunglim Kim's scholarship focuses on pre-modern and early 20th-century Korean art and culture. Her research interests include the rise of consumer culture in late Chosŏn dynasty and the role of the professional nouveau riche, the so-called chungin (middle people) in the production, distribution, collection, and consumption of art in 18th and 19th century Korea; artistic exchanges among China, Korea, and Japan; the shaping of images of Korea and her people during the Japanese colonial period; and the use of visual space as political tool in modern and contemporary Korea.

Sunglim Kim also teaches AMES courses on Korean cultural history from prehistory to the contemporary period.