Talk:Hyon Song-wol

Question
Um, who blanked the article? This is quite embarrassing, considering it's linked to from the main page right now. LonelyBoy2012 (talk) 17:12, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Erm, nobody? It's not been blanked by anybody. Prioryman (talk) 18:20, 19 July 2012 (UTC)
 * But when I read the article I see nothing but a picture of her with a caption...there's no article text to speak of. And when I click on the "Edit" tab, the source code looks blank. I don't get this problem on any other Wikipedia articles, so even if this page hasn't "officially" been blanked, there must be some technical problem (maybe a flaw in the source code) that causes this to happen. Whatever it is, it's certainly worth fixing. LonelyBoy2012 (talk) 21:07, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

No proof = still a rumor
I added word "Allegedly", since there is no proof. Let's wait a little before we make certain claims.

Execution
Hyon Song -wol's is most likely false. Review this article to see why:

http://www.businessinsider.com/did-kim-jong-un-execute-his-ex-girlfriend-2013-8 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emperor Sean (talk • contribs) 20:22, 5 September 2013 (UTC)


 * I disagree with the conclusion. If she is still alive, it seems likely that she will reappear on DPRK TV at some point.  This will prove the story untrue.  I understand, in fact, that she has scheduled concerts.  If she fails to be seen again, this would give credence to this rumour.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:47, 18 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Supposedly the bands she forms part of are all state mandated and have indeed been disbanded.105.228.87.93 (talk) 08:13, 18 October 2013 (UTC)
 * According to the article she has been retired from singing for some years.--Jack Upland (talk) 05:09, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

no need for "expert opinions" if she is alive or dead
kim just has to produce her, or live with the reputation of a murderer. very simple. what is the point of opinions in the article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.130.168.139 (talk) 04:23, 8 October 2013 (UTC)


 * If she appears on TV this would disprove the story, but I don't think anyone can demand this of her. Of course, the regime could force her to appear, but I don't see how this would improve its human rights credentials!  The regime has not made a major effort to combat every false news story about it, but I'm not sure that it should.  I don't expect a deluge of apologies if this story proves false.--Jack Upland (talk) 10:09, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
 * Let's see about that.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:07, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Still waiting.--Jack Upland (talk) 12:15, 23 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Hello? Anybody home???--Jack Upland (talk) 17:16, 20 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Still wishing and hoping...--Jack Upland (talk) 05:18, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

Rumour-Mongering
The story of her execution seems to be constructed from a series of rumours: Is there anything else to this story? Is there any substance other than rumour on rumour?--Jack Upland (talk) 10:19, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
 * The confusion of her and Kim Jong Un's wife, leading to the rumour that she was his girlfriend.
 * The claim that a video released by her band was pornographic (even though it was obviously cleared by DPRK censors) and the speculation that she would be punished (i.e., executed).
 * The further speculation that the "real" reason she was executed (which was speculative) is jealousy of Kim Jong Un's wife against his former girlfriend.
 * The elaboration of a bizarre scenario in which this execution might have taken place.

I agree very well. Although I am assuming, it is too coincidental that south korean media is negatively portraying north korea.Emperor Sean (talk) 00:44, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

NPR Article
Are Wikipedians even more gullible than they seem? Am I the only person to notice that the NPR article of 2012, on which half of this article is based, is a spoof from beginning to end? Just read the thing and think for half a minute ...

The English translation of the song title, Excellent Horse-loving Lady, is not bad, but that's the only reliable 'fact' in the entire article. Don't you guys have April Fool's Day newspaper articles in the US?

Djwilms (talk) 08:03, 7 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Well, there's a lot more sources than that, and unfortunately that is the standard of journalism on NK: extravagant speculation, which on the identity of the mystery woman at least, turns out to be false.--Jack Upland (talk) 10:05, 8 January 2014 (UTC)

She's Alive!
Having two reliable sources reporting her appearance on television, I think we can now safely accept she was not executed.

I think I have changed everything that needs to be changed in the article. I don't think need all the discussion of the execution rumour in the article now, but it remains interesting as a testament to how the media works (or fails). As the issue is still fresh, I think it would be wise to leave it there for the time being.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:06, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Date of birth missing
I have removed the year of birth (1983) since it was unsourced. Pekka Korhonen assesses that the year given by the Chinese Wikipedia (1972) is more credible, but since Chinese Wikipedia doesn't cite their sources either, there isn't much we can do here. Finnusertop (talk &#124; guestbook &#124; contribs) 20:54, 29 July 2015 (UTC)
 * So the reports of her birth and her death are both unreliable.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:56, 7 February 2018 (UTC)
 * On January 21 2018, Hyon Song-wol passed through the customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) office at Dorasan Station, just south of the border. At that time, the South Korean authorities may checked her ID information. As you know, everyone needs the appropriate documentation to cross the border. On January 31 2018, a source on the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee quoted the NIS(National Intelligence Service) as saying Hyon was born in Pyongyang in 1977. I believe this date of birth information is based on her ID when she passed through the CIQ office. --Amdrock (talk) 19:28, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
 * You could be right, all we have is that "A source on the intelligence committee quoted the NIS as saying Hyon was born in Pyongyang in 1977". This kind of sourcing is often associated with false rumours.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:01, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Hyon Song-wol. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20130908054223/http://v.youku.com:80/v_show/id_XNjA0OTA0NjYw.html? to http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjA0OTA0NjYw.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 10:24, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

Hyon Song-wol
Hi Wikipedia, I wanted to protect Hyon Song-wol's page to prevent vandalism, false information, and sockpuppeting. I was wondering can I have this page fully locked and protected until more then more details. Temia Jannings (talk) 17:45, 24 June 2021 (UTC)


 * . You need to take your request to Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism, but I think you would be wasting your time because the situation here isn't serious enough. Don't let me put you off though.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:25, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

Later career
I have returned "Later career" to end of the article. This is designed to keep the article in chronological. Her "later career" covers what she did after the false rumours about her execution. There is no "cohesion" in putting this at the end of the article. I am not saying we can't have different headings etc. Please discuss here before reorganising the article.--Jack Upland (talk) 07:47, 11 August 2021 (UTC)