Kwang Sung Hwang is one of a handful of men promoted to ninth degree by General Hong Hi Choi, not many people can claim the lineage the Grand Master Hwang can claim. At the height of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), Grand Master Hwang simultaneously served as special assistant to General Choi, official spokesman of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, chairman of the ITF promotion and merger committees, and Secretary General of the ITF.
Kwang Sung Hwang was born in Taegu, Korea, in 1942. He began training in the martial arts at age eleven. After graduating with a degree in political science from Kyung Buk National University, he joined the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) as a commissioned officer in 1964. In 1967 Grand Master Hwang graduated from Korean Military International Certified Taekwon-Do School. In 1968-1969, as a Captain in ROKA, he taught Taekwon-Do to the Korean Tiger Division, the Korean Army, US Army, US Marines, and Vietnamese Army. While in Vietnam, he received commendation medals from Korea and Vietnam. In 1971 he was service company commander of the 26th Infantry Division which was also known as the Taekwon-Do Division.
Retiring from his military career, Grand Master Hwang was invited to the United States and first taught a credited course at Manchester Community Technical College in 1971. He opened his first Taekwon-Do school the following year. In 1974, Grand Master Hwang graduated from the first International Taekwon-Do Federation Instructors Course and Umpires Course hosted and taught by General Choi in Montreal, Canada. He subsequently began taking private lessons from General Choi in the 1980’s after he was promoted to seventh degree Master in Taekwon-Do. He assisted General Choi in many seminars worldwide.
