Born in 1968 in Seoul, Korea, Hong graduated in 1995 from Kyungwon University with a degree in painting. His work was chosen in the same year for exhibition in the Seoul Contemporary Art Festival at the Korea Culture and Art Foundation. Hong's work has found a positive reception in local Korean artistic and cultural circles and he has participated in 16 major exhibitions since 1994 including exhibitions held by the Korean Culture and Art Foundation in Seoul in 2001; "the Korean and Chinese Painting- New Expression 2002 exhibition"; and "the Korean Young Artists Biennale 2002". Hong's work was also shown in the 2003 "Art Book, Book Art exhibition" at the National Museum of Contemporary Art.