A mother in modern-day Pyongyang reminisces to her daughter about how she got some medals, and the movie flashbacks to tell her story.

Jang-hwa and Hong-ryeon, the daughters of Officer Bae, die an unfortunate death from their step-mother's abuse. Jang-hwa's soul is unable to rest at peace, she appears in front of the district magistrate pleading for justice in her case.

An Emissary of No Return retells the story of a real historical event in 1907 known as the Hague Secret Emissary Affair. Korea had been colonized by Japan. In order to protest to the international community, the Korean emperor king Gojong sent three secret emissaries to the talks of the Hague Convention of 1907, to get the great powers to overturn the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905.