You can think of Hwang Yeon-ju as the Lee Dong-guk of women's volleyball

If we look strictly at the domestic league, she is indeed a legend who would rank in the top 5 since the year 2000.
Kim Yeon-koung and Yang Hyo-jin are absolute locks, while Jung Dae-young, Hwang Yeon-ju, Park Jeong-ah, Han Song-yi, and Lee Jae-yeong are all competing for the remaining spots.
If Lee Jae-yeong had maintained a consistent career, she would have been a permanent fixture in the top 3, but she's been sidelined.
The reason Hwang Yeon-ju's evaluation is ambiguous is that she is strictly a domestic-level player.
When comparing her to Park Jeong-ah, one might favor Park Jeong-ah due to her performance in international competitions.
Hwang Yeon-ju is 26, and even during the 2012 London Olympics, which was her prime, she was stuck on the bench behind Kim Hee-jin.
She wasn't even selected for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
Because of her relatively short height, her primary strength—attacking—was frequently blocked, and she couldn't contribute much in blocking, so they had no choice but to use Kim Hee-jin.
It was maddening because the attacks that worked domestically would just hit a wall whenever they played in international competitions.
Even when attacking against a single block due to the "Kim Yeon-koung umbrella effect," it wouldn't work.
The reason Park Jeong-ah is rated higher than Hwang Yeon-ju is because of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Regardless, she played a significant role as a starter in reaching the semifinals.