Hyon Mu-gwang was born in Hongyuan County, south-central South Hamgyong Province.[1] In his early years, he worked as a worker in a factory in Seoul. During the Japanese occupation, he was forced to requisition to work in a steel plant in Chongjin City. In 1937, he joined the National Liberation League and engaged in the communist movement. He was subsequently arrested by the Japanese colonial government and sentenced to prison.[1] In 1945, Japan surrendered and World War II ended, and Hyon became chairman of the Party Committee of the WPK Steel Plant. In 1948, he was appointed director of the Pyongyang Pistol Factory. During the Korean War, he was appointed as the director of several arsenals, specializing in the production of rifles, mortars, anti-tank weapons and other armaments. After the war, he was appointed to study political theory and party history at a high-level Soviet party school.[citation needed]