The Hwangje criminal empire was a powerful criminal empire founded in the late Rise of the Empire era. It was quite xenophobic, and only recruited members from its own planet, Tok Suk-Ri. The planet was primarily occupied by humans, with a few other sentients as well, but the Hwangje also recruited semi-sentients, particularly Acklay. During the Galactic Civil War, Hwangje remained neuteral, but favoured the Rebels on certain occasions. Hwangje invented the DW-K2 blaster rifle, and it became incredibly popular among their army. Hwangje had two main enemies, the Nyeman Criminal Empire and the Tuk Om empire, both of whom it fought during the war of four planets.