After graduating from Konkuk University, Hwang decided not to enter the K League and left for Germany to begin his professional career.

[1] During a season, he played for the reserve team of Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 16 goals in the Oberliga Nordrhein, Germany's third division at the time.

[3] Hwang joined POSCO Atoms (currently Pohang Steelers) after returning to South Korea in June 1993.

An unknown college player, Hwang was suddenly selected for the South Korea national football team for the 1988 AFC Asian Cup by the manager Lee Hoe-taik.

[3] In the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, Hwang won the Bronze Shoe award after scoring in two victories against Mexico and Australia.

He scored the winning goal in the first match against Poland, helping South Korea to achieve their first-ever victory in the FIFA World Cup.

In the penalty shoot-out of the quarter-final match against Spain, he came forward as South Korea's first kicker, and succeeded in scoring.

He was also in severe conflict with veteran players Dejan Damjanović, Osmar and Park Chu-young, failing to control them.

He left the club after Yanbian Funde was disqualified for the 2019 China League One due to owing taxes in February 2019.

He once again had difficulty bringing a successful outcome by being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup after a 3–0 defeat to Japan.

[32] However, his managerial career did not go into reverse, with South Korea failing to qualify for the Olympic football for the first time in 40 years since 1984.

Under his short-lived tenure, South Korea were held to a shock draw at home to Thailand 1–1, but managed to outplay the Thais 3–0 away to cement their top table position.