Graduating after 3 years of studying at Ilsin Girls’ Private High School that was centered around an Australian Presbyterian Missionary Organization’s female clergy,
she transferred to Jungsin Girls’ school in Seoul as a senior and graduated. After graduation, she taught at Myungsin School and with an urge to study English in order to learn advanced civilization,
she entered the department of English at the prestigious Dohojisha University in Kyoto and graduated in 1927. She returned to Korea after studying to the extent women could learn.
Kim, Mal-Bong entered a short novel ‘Mang myung nuy’ into Joongangilbo’s annual spring literary contest under the pen name ‘Bo-ok.’ With this novel winning first place in January of 1932,
she became a novelist and was the first Busan born to become a contemporary literature contest winner.
Her first stage of works, before Korea’s independence, were viewed as a westernized trend of literature in which personal affections moved toward one’s passion, but after Korea’s Independence,
in her second stage of works, focus was moved to social community on the subject of social justice. The full length novel works are ‘Jjilleggot’, ‘Millim’, ‘Hwaryuhan jiok’ (1952), ‘Taeyangui Kwonsok’ (1953),
‘Pueleun Nalgae’ (1954), ‘Byulduelui Gohyang’ (1956), ‘Sengmyeong’ (1957), ‘Buelrae Maneun ggot’ (1977), and there is ‘Ggotgwa baem’ (1957) a collection short stories.