Hwang Ui-jo (; born 28 August 1992) is a South Korean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

and the

South Korea national team South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

Club career

Seongnam FC

Hwang was selected by

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam Football Club () is a South Korean professional football club based in Seongnam that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. It is one of the most successful clubs in South Korea and the Asian Football Conf ...

in 2013 K League 1 draft. He scored his debut goal against

Suwon Samsung Bluewings The Suwon Samsung Bluewings () are a South Korean Association football, football club based in Suwon that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. Founded in December 1995, they have won the K League on four occas ...

on 3 March 2013. During the 2015 season, he showed outstanding performances with 15 goals in the K League 1, and made his debut in the South Korean national team. He also scored three goals in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

. In 2016, however, Seongnam left poor results, and Hwang also underperformed at the time. They finished the league in 11th place among 12 clubs, and were eventually relegated to the

K League 2 The K League 2 () is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with K League 1. History In 2011, the or ...

after the promotion-relegation playoffs.

Gamba Osaka

In June 2017, Hwang signed a two-year contract with

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club Gamba Osaka. In the 2018 season, he played a vital role for Gamba to avoid relegation, and finished the season as the team's top scorer with 21 goals. He was selected for the

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only on two occasions there has been a full-Japanese Best X ...

and was named Gamba's Player of the Year.

Bordeaux

On 15 July 2019, Hwang moved to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, signing a four-year deal worth €1.8 million per year. He originally played as a striker for the South Korean national team and Gamba Osaka, but the Bordeaux manager

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

usually used him as a winger. Under Sousa, Hwang scored only six goals including a header scored against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. Hwang was continuously deployed as a winger early next season, although Sousa was replaced by

Jean-Louis Gasset Jean-Louis Gasset (born 9 December 1953) is a French professional football manager and former player. As a player, he played as a midfielder, spending ten years at his hometown club Montpellier. Football career Born in Montpellier, Gasset played ...

. However, he failed to score in 12 consecutive games, and scored his first goal of the season on 16 December. He was eventually returned to the striker position by Gasset, and successfully spent the remainder of the season by adding 11 goals. On 23 January 2022, Hwang scored his first hat-trick of his Bordeaux's career, as the club won 4–3 against

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Nottingham Forest

Loan spells

On 26 August 2022,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

announced the signing of Hwang. He was immediately loaned out to Greek club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. He was unsuccessful at Olympiacos, and his loan contract was terminated early after he failed to score for five months. On 3 February 2023, Hwang joined South Korean club

FC Seoul FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

on a five-month loan. Although he didn't score many goals, he played a key role in FC Seoul's attack, helping the team retain possession and apply pressure on opponents. Hwang attempted to secure a spot at Nottingham Forest before the 2023–24 season but managed just one goal in six pre-season games. On 1 September 2023, he joined

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

on loan for the 2023–24 season. After failing to score in his first eight appearances, he found form with three goals in his next five matches. However, he suffered a hamstring injury while scoring his third goal. He returned to action after a month but suffered a relapse just two weeks later. As a result, his loan spell was cut short, and Norwich terminated his contract early on 9 January 2024. On 6 February 2024, Hwang was loaned to

club

until the end of the season. He scored in the last Süper Lig match against

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

Alanyaspor

On 6 September 2024, Hwang signed a one-year contract with Alanyaspor.

International career

On 13 October 2015, Hwang scored his first international goal against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Hwang participated in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

as an over-aged player of the South Korean under-23 team. He scored a hat-trick in the first group stage match against

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

on 15 August and another in the quarter-finals against

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, leading South Korea to a 4–3 victory. In all, Hwang scored nine goals in seven matches as South Korea won gold. He was named the Korean FA Player of the Year after showing his worth in Asian Games and J1 League. Hwang played for South Korea in the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

, scoring against

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Hwang was also selected as an over-aged player for the under-23 team for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. During the competition, he scored four goals, but failed to show great influence. South Korea were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Personal life

On 25 June 2023, an unidentified user on the social networking service

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

posted explicit clips of a sex video, allegedly showing Hwang and a woman who did not know she was being filmed. The user claimed to be a former lover of Hwang's, and accused Hwang of

gaslighting Gaslighting is the manipulation of someone into questioning their perception of reality. The term derives from the 1944 film ''Gaslight (1944 film), Gaslight'' and became popular in the mid-2010s. Some mental health experts have expressed c ...

her and other women, alleging that he had intimate and sexual relations with multiple partners without formally establishing a relationship due the prospects of returning to his football club Nottingham Forest in England. She also claimed that videos on his mobile phone with these women may have been taken without consent or by hidden cameras; she posted private conversations and recordings on the social media platform. Hwang's management company UJ Sports denied the allegations and stated that it would take legal action against the distributor of the contents. Police investigations traced the user's IP address to Hwang's own house, and investigators identified Hwang's sister-in-law, who was working as his personal manager at the time, as the suspect. The sister-in-law, who has only been publicly identified by her surname "Lee", was charged with violating South Korean laws relating to

sex crimes Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

and committing

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

. She originally denied the allegations, but later confessed that she leaked the videos as an act of revenge as she felt Hwang had "

een Een ːnis a village in the Netherlands. It is part of the Noordenveld municipality in Drenthe. History Een is an ''esdorp'' which developed in the middle ages on the higher grounds. The communal pasture is triangular. The village developed dur ...

ungrateful" towards her and her husband for their support of his career. She was sentenced to three years in prison. Concurrently, a second police investigation was launched into allegations that the sex footage on Hwang's mobile phone had been filmed without the knowledge or consent of the women involved. In November 2023, he was suspended by South Korea pending a police inquiry into the claims. On 11 July 2024,

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean P ...

informed Hwang that he was to be indicted on two charges related to alleged breaches of South Korea's Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. Hwang was alleged to have filmed two women without consent on four occasions between June and September 2022. On 14 February 2025, Hwang was convicted of charges related to one of the women, but acquitted of charges related to other. He was sentenced to a suspended one-year prison term.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list South Korea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hwang goal.''

Honours

Seongnam FC *

Korean FA Cup The Korea Cup (), formerly the Korean FA Cup, is a national Association football, football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the competition was established in 1996, two simil ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

South Korea U23 *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * K League All-Star: 2015 *

top goalscorer:

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

Player of the Year: 2018 * J1 League Monthly MVP: November/December 2018 * Korean FA Player of the Year: 2018 * J1 League Best XI:

* Korean FA Goal of the Year: 2019

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hwang, Ui-jo 1992 births Living people Yonsei University alumni Footballers from Seongnam Men's association football forwards South Korean men's footballers South Korea men's youth international footballers South Korea men's under-23 international footballers South Korea men's international footballers Seongnam FC players Gamba Osaka players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players FC Seoul players Norwich City F.C. players Alanyaspor footballers J1 League players K League 1 players K League 2 players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Super League Greece players Süper Lig players Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games footballers for South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 AFC Asian Cup players South Korean expatriate men's footballers South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Japan South Korean expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France South Korean expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece South Korean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for South Korea 2022 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players South Korean victims of crime People convicted of sex crimes 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Sportspeople convicted of crimes Sex crimes in South Korea Asian Games gold medalists in football