[3] Min Ko Naing was born in Yangon, the third son of Thet Nyunt and Hla Kyi, a couple from Mudon in Mon State.

According to classmates, Min Ko Naing was a member of a performance troupe that took part in the traditional Than Gyat competition during Thingyan (Burma's annual Water Festival) in April.

Though the troupe was popular, it also attracted the attention of Burmese Military Intelligence agents, who began to track Min Ko Naing's movements.

When the students attempted to march to the Rangoon Institute of Technology, where Phone Maw had been killed, they encountered a barbed wire barricade at Inya Lake and were attacked by riot police, resulting in several deaths and many arrests.

"The ABSFU continued to release statements by Min Ko Naing urging protests to the military government, including one calling for a general strike on 8-8-88, a number that would later become synonymous with the movement itself.

[5] The 8-8-88 general strike drew hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Yangon, and is widely seen as a turning point in the Burmese democracy movement.

Min Ko Naing continued to speak to crowds in front of the US Embassy and Rangoon General Hospital, the sites of previous killings of protesters by Burmese government forces.

He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment, under Section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act for instigating "disturbances to the detriment of law and order, peace and tranquility".

[12] Following his release from prison, Min Ko Naing helped to found the 88 Generation Students Group, which continued to fight for democracy in Burma.

[14] The 88 Generation Students Group also conducted a "White Sunday" campaign from 11 March 2007 to 20 May 2007 to express support for family members of political prisoners.

On 15 November 2008 Min Ko Naing was transferred to Kengtung prison in Shan State, where isolated, bleak cells were constructed in mid-2000 for solitary confinement.

[18] On 13 February 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Min Ko Naing and six other high-profile individuals,[19] namely Kyaw Min Yu, Myo Yan Naung Thein, Insein Aung Soe, Mg Mg Aye, Pencilo, and Lynn Lynn were charged and issued arrest warrants under section 505 (b) of the Myanmar Penal Code by the State Administration Council for inciting unrest against the state and threatening "public tranquility" through their social media posts.

[28] In 2012, he was announced the winner of an award from the US National Endowment for Democracy, but stated his intention not to attend the ceremony in solidarity with other Burmese activists who had been denied visas.

[29] In a press conference, September 13, 2017—at the height of the Rohingya genocide (the persecution of, and attacks upon, Myanmar's mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya) -- Min Ko Naing reportedly appeared with a group of 88 Generation Peace and Open Society activists, at which the attendees issued a written statement denying the version of events portrayed in prominent international media.