In 1593, Japanese forces invaded the Korean peninsula in the Imjin war, during which Official Choi, Nongae's husband, was assassinated in June. Afterwards, the Japanese eventually succeeded in their invasion of Suyeong Fortress (now near Jinju area). To celebrate the victory, soldiers forced all the kisaeng, female entertainers, to serve them at the Choseokru Pavilion on a cliff that overlooked the Nam River. Nongae was called to entertain the victorious Japanese generals alongside the other kisaeng. Nongae stood on the steep rock under Choseokru which caused all Japanese soldiers not daring to cross until the general came forward to her challenge. When the general met to her face to face, she smiled when he tried to lure her down from the rock, and eventually led the general Keyamura Rokusuke (毛谷村六助) to the cliffside, where she embraced him, clasped her fingers with rings that locked her around him, and cast herself along with the general into the river, killing them both. She died at the age of 20. It is said that she sacrificed herself not only in revenge for her husband's murder but also out of love for her country. However this story is highly dubious and it is most likely to have originated from Park Jonghwa‘s (Hangul: 박중화, Hanja: 朴鍾和) "Nongae and Gyewolhyang" (1962).