Born in South Korea, Yum emigrated to Brooklyn, New York, with his family in 1980. He graduated in 1999 with a B.F.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he concentrated his studies on painting and also served as an intern for the UB Art Department Gallery. Prior to that Yum took classes at Parsons School of Design in Brooklyn. Yum apprenticed at the Johnson Atelier, a world-class foundry and technical school. This emerging artist has shown his works at the UB Art Department Gallery and at the Castellani Museum of Niagara University while a student, and at the Johnson Atelier’s Extension Gallery.