Kim made her senior international debut at 2006 Skate Canada where she won a bronze medal after being placed first at the short program and fourth in the free skate program with a total overall score of 168.48 points. At the 2006 Trophée Eric Bompard, Kim received a score of 65.22 in the short program and 119.32 in the free skate, placing first both of them and won the event with 184.54 points, 10.10 points ahead of silver medalist Miki Ando. Those performances qualified Kim for the Grand Prix Final for the first time. At the 2006 Grand Prix Final in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Kim placed third in the short program with 65.06 points and first in the free skating with 119.14. She won the Grand Prix Final earning 184.20 points, by a margin of 11.68 ahead over silver medalist Mao Asada. Kim was forced to withdraw due to an injury at the 2007 South Korean Championships and was unable to defend her national title. In January 2007, Kim was diagnosed as being in the early stage of lumbar disc herniation. Kim was selected to compete at the 2007 World Championships based on her performance during the season. Because of the placement of Choi Ji Eun the year before, South Korea had only one spot in the World Championships. During the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Kim won the short program with 71.95 points, setting the highest short program score ever under the ISU Judging System and consequently, a world record.She was on her way to a near certain gold medal but two costly falls on triple lutzes dropped her to third place overall, behind Miki Ando and Mao Asada, finishing fourth in the long program. Kim's placement qualified South Korea two ladies entries for the 2008 World Figure Skating Championships.[60