In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Korean Association for Human Development in 2025, this study analyses the research trends and knowledge structure of 690 articles published in the Korean Journal of Human Development from 2005 to 2024. A basic analysis based on descriptive statistics, keyword frequency analysis, social network analysis and latent dirichlet allocation (LDA)-based topic modeling were performed. The results are as follows: First, since the establishment of the quarterly publication system, the number of published papers has gradually increased, and the majority of published articles involved collaboration among two or more researchers, examined multiple stages of the life span, and adopted quantitative research methodologies. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling emerged as the most frequently utilized analytical approaches. Second, keyword network analysis showed that “child” acted as the most powerful hub, while “resilience” and “adjustment” showed high betweenness centrality, acting as bridging variables connecting various developmental domains. Third, LDA topic modeling derived 11 latent topics. The current study reflects on the achievements of human development research accumulated over the past 20 years, and its contribution to establishing a foundation for the future expansion of the field’s academic scope.