Hwang Sun-hong

After graduating from Konkuk University, Hwang decided not to enter his country's K League and began his senior career in Germany. During his first season as a senior player, he played for the reserve team of Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 16 goals at the Oberliga Nordrhein, Germany's third division at the time. The next season, Hwang joined 2. Bundesliga side Wuppertaler SV, but he appeared in only nine matches due to a cruciate ligament injury. Hwang joined K League club POSCO Atoms (currently Pohang Steelers) after returning to South Korea in June 1993. He won two Asian Club Championships with Pohang, whereas he failed to win a K League title. In 1995, he scored in eight consecutive K League matches, setting a record. In 1998, Hwang moved to J1 League club Cerezo Osaka. At the 1999 J1 League, he scored 24 goals during 25 appearances, becoming the top goalscorer. He is the first South Korean footballer to become the top scorer at a foreign league. That year, he was also nominated for the Asian Footballer of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation. In late 2003, he retired as a player, and started his coaching career.

1990 World Cup

An unknown college player, Hwang was suddenly selected for the South Korea national team for the 1988 AFC Asian Cup by manager Lee Hoe-taik. At the tournament, he scored his first and second goals against Japan and Iran respectively. Hwang was included in the national team for the 1990 FIFA World Cup after showing his outstanding performances including seven goals during the qualifying campaign. However, he had difficulty in performing teamwork, while South Korea lost all three group stage matches at the competition.

1994 World Cup

Hwang showed poor performances, with he scoring only one goal in the qualifiers for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He gradually regained his capability in friendly matches just before the World Cup, but injured his left knee in the last friendly against Honduras. Although he was not in a stable condition, manager Kim Ho used him as a main striker at the competition. He apologised to his teammates after their first group stage match against Spain, where he missed two crucial chances. In the second match against Bolivia, he continuously missed several chances, and South Korea had to face a goalless draw. He scored a goal in the last group stage against defending champions Germany, but the match ended in a 3–2 defeat. After South Korea was eliminated in the group stage, he was severely blamed for his inexact shots against Bolivia by South Korean fans, suffering from social anxiety disorder.

1996 Summer Olympics

In…

In 2005, Hwang was appointed as assistant coach of Jeonnam Dragons and started his coaching career. He received Best Coach Award at the 2006 Korean FA Cup. On 4 December 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Busan IPark, becoming their manager.

Pohang Steelers

On 9 November 2010, Hwang returned to his former team Pohang Steelers as a new manager. He guided Pohang to the second place in the regular season of the 2011 K-League, and a Korean FA Cup title in 2012. He preferred the club's youth players to foreign players, and completed high-quality teamwork nicknamed the "Steel-taka". He became one of the most notable managers in South Korea after winning the K League 1 and the Korean FA Cup simultaneously in 2013.

FC Seoul

On 21 June 2016, Hwang was appointed manager of another K League 1 club FC Seoul. He successfully finished the rest of the 2016 season by bringing the K League 1 title. However, his discernment in the transfer market was not good and newcomers chosen by him showed poor performances. He was also in severe conflict with veteran players Dejan Damjanović, Osmar and Park Chu-young, failing to control them. Due to his poor results in subsequent seasons, he finally resigned on 30 April 2018.

Yanbian Funde

On 14 December 2018, Hwang was appointed manager of Yanbian Funde. He left the club after Yanbian Funde were disqualified for the 2019 China League One due to their back taxes in February 2019.

Daejeon Hana Citizen

K League 2 club Daejeon Citizen were reorganised under the name of Daejeon Hana Citizen by their new owners Hana Financial Group before the 2020 season, and chose Hwang as their first manager on the recommendation of Huh Jung-moo, their director and Hwang's…