Hwang was selected by Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2013 K League 1 draft. He scored his debut goal against Suwon Samsung Bluewings on 3 March 2013.[4] During the 2015 season, he showed outstanding performances with 15 goals in the K League 1, and made his debut in the South Korean national team.[5] He also scored three goals in the AFC Champions League. In 2016, however, Seongnam left poor results, and Hwang also underperformed at the time.[6][7] They finished the league in 11th place among 12 clubs, and were eventually relegated to the K League 2 after the promotion-relegation playoffs.[7]
Gamba Osaka
In June 2017, Hwang signed a two-year contract with J1 League club Gamba Osaka.[8] In the 2018 season, he played a vital role for Gamba to avoid relegation, and finished the season as the team's top scorer with 21 goals.[9] He was selected for the J.League Best XI and was named Gamba's Player of the Year.[9][10][11]
Bordeaux
On 15 July 2019, Hwang moved to Ligue 1 club Bordeaux, signing a four-year deal worth €1.8 million per year.[12] He originally played as a striker for the South Korean national team and Gamba Osaka, but the Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa usually used him as a winger.[13][14] Under Sousa, Hwang scored only six goals including a header scored against Paris Saint-Germain.[15]
Hwang was continuously deployed as a winger early next season, although Sousa was replaced by Jean-Louis Gasset. However, he failed to score in 12 consecutive games, and scored his first goal of the season on 16 December.[16] He was eventually returned to the striker position by Gasset,[17] and successfully spent the remainder of the season by adding 11 goals.
On 23 January 2022, Hwang scored his first hat-trick of his Bordeaux's career, as the club won 4–3 against Strasbourg.[18]
Nottingham Forest
Loan spells
On 26 August 2022, Premier League club Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Hwang. He was immediately loaned out to Greek club Olympiacos.[19] He wasn't successful at Olympiacos, and his loan contract was terminated early after he failed to score for five months.
On 3 February 2023, Hwang was loaned out to South Korean club FC Seoul for five months until the summer.[20] He did not score very well, but his influence was strong on the front of FC Seoul, which needed to keep the ball and to press opponents.[21]
Hwang tried to make his spot at Nottingham before the 2023–24 season, but he scored only one goal in six pre-season games.[22] On 1 September 2023, he joined EFL Championship club Norwich City on loan for the 2023–24 season.[23] He scored no goals in the first eight appearances. He scored three goals in the five subsequent matches, but lost his upturn by suffering a hamstring injury in the match, where he scored his third goal.[24] He went back to the field after recovering for a month, but had a relapse two weeks after the recovery. Eventually, on 9 January 2024, his contract with Norwich was terminated early.[25]
On 6 February 2024, Hwang was loaned to Süper Lig club Alanyaspor until the end of the season.[26] He scored a goal in the last Süper Lig match against Antalyaspor.[27]
Alanyaspor
On 6 September 2024, Hwang signed a one-year contract with Alanyaspor.[28]
International career
On 13 October 2015, Hwang scored his first international goal against Jamaica.[29]
Hwang participated in the 2018 Asian Games as an over-aged player of the South Korean under-23 team. On 15 August, He scored a hat-trick in the first group-stage match against Bahrain.[29] In the quarter-finals against Uzbekistan, he once again showed his explosive hat-trick, leading South Korea to a 4–3 victory. He scored nine goals out of seven matches, and his overwhelming performance greatly contributed to South Korea's gold medal.[30] He was named the Korean FA Player of the Year after showing his worth in Asian Games and J1 League.[31]
Hwang was also selected as an over-aged player for the under-23 team for the 2020 Summer Olympics. During the competition, he scored four goals, but failed to show great influence.[32] South Korea were eliminated in the quarter-finals.[32]
Personal life
On 25 June 2023, an unidentified user on the social networking service Instagram posted explicit clips of a sex video, allegedly showing Hwang and a woman who did not know she was being filmed.[33] The user claimed to be a former lover of Hwang's, and accused Hwang of gaslighting her and other women, alleging that he had intimate and sexual relations with multiple partners without formally establishing a relationship due the prospects of returning to his football club Nottingham Forest in England.[34] She also claimed that videos on his mobile phone with these women may have been taken without consent or by hidden cameras; she posted private conversations and recordings on the social media platform. Hwang's management company UJ Sports denied the allegations and stated that it would take legal action against the distributor of the contents.[35] Police investigations traced the user's IP address to Hwang's own house, and investigators identified Hwang's sister-in-law, who was working as his personal manager at the time, as the suspect. The sister-in-law, who has only been publicly identified by her surname "Lee", was charged with violating South Korean laws relating to sex crimes and committing blackmail. She originally denied the allegations, but later confessed that she leaked the videos as an act of revenge as she felt Hwang had "[been] ungrateful" towards her and her husband for their support of his career. She was sentenced to three years in prison.[36][37]
Concurrently, a second police investigation was launched into allegations that the sex footage on Hwang's mobile phone had been filmed without the knowledge or consent of the women involved.[38] In November 2023, he was suspended by South Korea pending a police inquiry into the claims.[39] On 11 July 2024, Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office informed Hwang that he was to be indicted on two charges related to alleged breaches of South Korea’s Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.[40][41]
^Includes thirteen appearances and thirteen goals as an overage player (seven appearances and nine goals in Asian Games, four appearances and four goals in Summer Olympics, two appearances in friendlies).
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