Minsuk Cho was born in Seoul and graduated from the Architectural Engineering Department of Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) and the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University (New York, USA). After working in various firms, including OMA Rotterdam, he established Cho Slade Architecture in 1998 in New York City with partner James Slade. In 2003, he returned to Korea to open his own firm, Mass Studies.

He has received many awards, including first prize in the 1994 Shinkenchiku International Residential Architecture Competition, the Architectural League of New York's Young Architects Award in 2000 for his work at Cho Slade Architecture, and two U.S. Progressive Architecture Awards (Citations) in 1999 and 2003. His work with Mass Studies has been nominated twice for the International Highrise Award (DAM), once as a finalist in 2008 for Boutique Monaco and again in 2010 for S-Trenue. The Korea Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai was awarded the Silver Medal in the category of Architectural Design by the Bureau of International Expositions and also earned him a Presidential Citation from the government of Korea.

His works Dalki Theme Park and Different but Same Houses were exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2010. He has participated in the Open House travelling exhibition from 2006 to 2008, the New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Asia Pacific 2006–2007 traveling exhibition, and has been an active lecturer and speaker in symposiums worldwide.