Hwang Ui-jo

Hwang Ui-jo (; born 28 August 1992) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Alanyaspor and the South Korea national team.

Club career Seongnam FC Hwang was selected by Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2013 K League 1 draft. He scored his debut goal against Suwon Samsung Bluewings 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. In 2016, however, Seongnam left poor results, and Hwang also underperformed at the time.

Gamba Osaka In June 2017, Hwang signed a two-year contract with J1 League 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 originally played as a striker for the South Korean national team and Gamba Osaka, but the Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa usually used him as a winger. Under Sousa, Hwang scored only six goals including a header scored against Paris Saint-Germain.

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

Nottingham Forest Loan spells On 26 August 2022, Premier League club Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Hwang. He was immediately loaned out to Greek club Olympiacos. 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 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 club Norwich City 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 Süper Lig club Alanyaspor until the end of the season. He scored in the last Süper Lig match against Antalyaspor.

Alanyaspor On 6 September 2024, Hwang signed a one-year contract with Alanyaspor. He signed a two-year contract extension with the club after scoring seven goals at the 2024–25 Süper Lig. He was named the Korean FA Player of the Year after showing his worth in Asian Games and J1 League. South Korea were eliminated in the quarter-finals. The user claimed to be a former lover of Hwang's, and accused Hwang of gaslighting 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 and committing blackmail. She originally denied the allegations, but later confessed that she leaked the videos as an act of revenge as she felt Hwang had "[been] 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. On 11 July 2024, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office 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

Honours Seongnam FC Korean FA Cup: 2014

South Korea U23 Asian Games: 2018 Asian Games top goalscorer: 2018 Gamba Osaka Player of the Year: 2018 Korean FA Player of the Year: 2018 J1 League Best XI: 2018 Korean FA Goal of the Year: 2019