In contrast with fans' criticism, Hwang was consistently chosen as a striker of the national team by managers. At the 1994 Asian Games, he became the top scorer of the tournament by scoring 11 goals in five games including eight goals against Nepal. He also played for the South Korea under-23 squad as an overage player for the 1996 Summer Olympics, and contributed to a victory by winning a crucial penalty kick, finished as the winning goal, in the first game against Ghana, but he quit the tournament due to his injury during the first half of the second game. He looked forward to the 1998 FIFA World Cup to make up for his failure in the 1994 World Cup, but he was injured by a Chinese goalkeeper Jiang Jin in a friendly against China just before the World Cup, and was disappointed to be excluded from the line-up of the tournament. At the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, South Korea was eliminated in the group stage, although they won two matches against Mexico and Australia, but he won the Bronze Shoe award by scoring two goals which led two victories.