He became well known for making prints related to the acts committed by the government under Chun in Seoul, leading to much controversy surrounding his art.
[1] After the Gwangju Uprising he became politically active, and in July 1989 was arrested for allegedly breaking the National Security Act (he had sent slides of a mural he had created, along with around 200 other South Korean artists, to North Korea).
He is an acclaimed member of the Minjung art movement, and in 1996 was commissioned by the Government of South Korea to create a 42-metre mural for Chonnam National University.
Hong's works showcase a rough timeline, starting with the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980 and continuing for the next few decades, even following his imprisonment in 1987.
[1] This imprisonment was based on charges of collaborating with North Korea after he designed a mural critical of South Korean life.