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During the three Kingdoms period (37 B.C.-A.D. 668), Jinju was part of Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C.-A.D. 660) and passed to the Silla Kingdom when they unified the peninsula. Under the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) it was named Jinju. According to historical records, the fort was surrounded by a 5m high, 1,321m long stone wall, Chokseokseong, and that there were three springs, three wells, and a grain storage within the fort. The fortress was often attacked by Japanese pirates. The fort was originally built towards the end of the Goryeo period to block the Japanese advance into the fertile Honam region (the Jeolla-do), and it was key military position in the early Japanese Invasion of 1592. at the start of the Imjin War. Samuel Hawley has written a brilliant study of this conflict, The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and the Attempt to Conquer China, and it is must reading for anyone interested in northern Asian history.

The defeat of the Japanese in the first battle of Jinjuseong ranks as one of the three great Korean victories of the Japanese Invasion of 1592. It was not only a great military feat, considering the defenders were greatly outnumbered, but it also kept the Japanese from invading the Honam region during that assault. The Japanese returned and defeated the defenders at Jinju fortress, killing as many as 60 to 70,000 people inside the fortress.

After the defeat at Jinju, the Japanese generals were celebrating. A kaesang, Nongae, jumped onto a rock at the edge of the river and at the base of the fortress. She invited the Japanese commander to join her, probably sarcastically, and according to legend he jumped onto the rock to be with her. He grabbed him and threw herself and the general into the river, drowning him, and killing herself. It is a story of great national sacrifice, in a country that reminds itself of its continued struggle in the world.

Jinju Fortress is a representative castle that shows the style of the castle town style during the Joseon Kingdom. It consists of 600m of circular inner wall, about four kilometers round the outer wall. In the northern part of fortress, there were three lakes that were connected that people crossed them to approach the fortress, now somewhere beneath the urban shopping malls. Around the outer wall, there was a lake connected to the Nam River. Around the fortress, there were a number of old graves and sites with relics from the Seonsa period.

The restoration of the fort began in 1979. It is a beautiful park and overall the quality of the restoration is exceptional.