Wang Su-bok was credited as a ground-breaking female artist, whose work led the way for the modern K-pop phenomenon.
10 Facts About Wang Su-bok
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Wang Su-bok was signed to both Columbia and Polydor Records.
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In January 1934, Wang Su-bok was featured in the first live Korean language radio broadcast to Japan.
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Wang Su-bok won a popularity contest for singers in 1935, organised by Samcheolli Co.
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In 1936, when she was at the peak of her popularity, Wang Su-bok was known as the 'Queen of Popular Songs'.
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Wang Su-bok moved to Japan to study Western music, training as a mezzo-soprano singer who sang mostly Joseon folk songs in Western vocal style.
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Wang Su-bok 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.
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Wang Su-bok featured in a book and exhibition and by Choi Kyu-sung, entitled Ancestors of Girl Groups which described the women who were some of Korea's first singers and heralded the popularity of K-pop girl groups in the country.
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Wang Su-bok was a partner of the novelist Yi Hyoseok, who she met in her sister's coffeehouse in Pyongyang.
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Wang Su-bok later married the economist Kim Kwang-jin, who in turn was former partner of the poet No Chun-myeong.