While active in literary circles in college, he participated in several anti-government protests and was forcefully drafted into military service.
After being discharged from the army, he was expelled from university for his involvement in anti- government activities and was subjected to imprisonment and torture.
The agonies and passions of his younger years are demonstrated in undertones throughout his poems, and artistically, if also painfully, sublimated against the background of the political conditions of his era.
Hwang Jiu largely uses two methods to deliver his political message, in the coded symbolism of "Kkonmal," and the satire and sarcasm of "Geunhwang" and "Bat" (Bakjwi).
The latter method is commonly employed in other political or propagandistic poetry, though Hwang's usage is unique in its origin in the poet's own experience, which ultimately leads the imagination of readers.