Kyunggi High School
Hwang was born on April 15, 1957. He graduated from Kyunggi High School in 1976. He received his LL.B in 1981 from the College of Law at Sungkyunkwan University, and passed the 23rd National Bar Exam the same year. He is a member of the Korea Baptist Convention. Hwang managed to avoid the mandatory military service which all Korean male adults are required to complete by claiming a rare case of hives.