She was credited as a ground-breaking female artist, whose work led the way for the modern K-pop phenomenon.

Born in 1917,[1] Wang Su-bok studied at the Chosen Dancing Girls School in Pyongyang, which specialised in gisaeng training.

[2] In January 1934, Wang was featured in the first live Korean language radio broadcast to Japan.

[5] She resumed her singing career with the Central Radio Broadcasting Commission in 1953, and by 1955, she had become a vocalist for the National Symphony Orchestra of North Korea.

[15] Wang was a partner of the novelist Yi Hyoseok, who she met in her sister's coffeehouse in Pyongyang.