Dong-Jin Bae began to gain recognition for his work by winning the grand prize at the Korean Creative Arts Festival and the first prize at the International Composition Competition in Weimar, Germany. After graduating from the Korea National University of Arts in composition, he moved to Germany, where he studied with various composers at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, the Freiburg University of Music, and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in Austria.

In 2009, he received a commission from the Kasseler Musiktage festival in Germany. In 2011, he was selected as a recipient of the Frankfurt Mozart Foundation's sponsorship, which supports emerging composers for two years. In the same year, his work was selected for the prestigious Acanthes Workshop in France, a long-standing forum for the exchange and networking of young European composers, which gave him the opportunity to premiere his piece with the Lorraine National Orchestra.

Additionally, he was selected for the Artist in Residence program organized by the Arts Council Korea and the Austrian Ministry of Culture. Upon his return to Korea in 2012, he was invited by the TIMF Ensemble for the Korean Composers' Night, where his works were featured. His winning piece at the ARKO Contemporary Orchestra Music Festival, hosted by the Arts Council Korea, was performed by the KBS Symphony Orchestra. He has also received commissions from many prestigious music organizations, including the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hwaum Chamber Orchestra, the National Gugak Center, and the National Chorus of Korea.

He has served as the resident composer of both the Hwaum Chamber Orchestra and the Seoul Chamber Orchestra. He is currently associate professor of composition at the Korea National University of Arts.