According to Samguk Yusa, she became the wife of King Suro of Geumgwan Gaya at the age of 16, after having arrived by boat from a distant kingdom called "Ayuta".

[8] Byung-mo Kim, a professor and anthropologist at Hanyang University, linked Ayuta with Ayodhya in India based on phonetic similarity.

In recent years, her origin is believed to be a religious symbol rather than a historical fact due to numerous inconsistencies (see Controversy surrounding her existence).

In reality, there is no historical evidence that backs this claim, but regardless of its authenticity, the name was popularized in several news articles within Korea and India despite its contemporary origins and lack of mention in Samguk Yusa.

[23] Before marrying the king, the princess took off her silk trousers (mentioned as a skirt in a different section of Samguk Yusa) and offered them to the mountain spirit.

[30] On November 6, 2018, on the eve of Diwali celebration, South Korea's First Lady Kim Jung-sook, laid the foundation stone for the expansion and beautification of the existing memorial.

Despite her legendary status and numerous theories, most reject the idea that Queen Heo truly existed due to historical, archaeological and genealogical inconsistencies.

The first criticism stems from the fact that her existence is solely based on the accounts made in Samguk Yusa, a book that is widely regarded to be mostly fictional.

Other older and more historically accurate sources such as Samguk Sagi lack mentions about an Indian princess arriving in Gaya and marrying the king.

It is believed that the writer of Samguk Yusa, Il-yeon exaggerated much of the claims to create a sense of familiarity towards Buddhism being a Buddhist monk himself.

[13] Many scholars also pointed out that due to the lack of technology to properly reach the Korean peninsula from ancient India at the time, her arrival would have been nearly impossible or at least, extremely difficult.

Many historians state that since Samguk Yusa and Garakguk-gi are both second hand accounts written in the same time period, the cross referencing needs to be carefully examined and researchers must remain skeptical.

[14] The consensus is that the existence of an Indian princess was very unlikely and that much of the stories found in Samguk Yusa were fabricated for political and religious reasons in Gaya at the time.

[15] The same book claims that King Suro lived up to 157 years old and transformed into an eagle and a hawk to fight off his rivals according to the supposed Garakguk-gi, making her story even less credible stemming from the same source material.

This claim suggests that Garakgukgi (and in turn Samguk Yusa) alludes to the deification of King Suro by exaggerating much of his accomplishments to that of the supernatural.

[15] Following this theory, it can be deduced that Queen Heo's Korean ethnicity was elevated to that of the Indian heritage to create a sense of uniqueness since marrying a royal princess from India, the birthplace of Buddha and Buddhism would be considered as a major accomplishment for the king of a Buddhist nation.

In addition to Queen Heo, Il-yeon also knowingly mislabeled Lady Saso as being Chinese in his book[39] (when in reality she was from Buyeo), a baseless rumor that was intentionally dismissed by Kim Bu-sik (the author of Samguk Sagi and the first to have heard this rumor) during his visit to the Song dynasty[40] which Il-yeon took note after looking into Kim's posthumous records over five decades later and had it published in his own Samguk Yusa.

[13] Professor Ki-hwan Lee suggested that the story of Heo Hwang-ok was dramatized to elevate Gaya's stature of the Buddhist scene among the Korean kingdoms and to associate the sacred artifacts they possessed to something closer to that of the Indian culture.

[16] Professor Kim added that engraving a depiction of a pair of fish was an ancient ritual stemming from a Babylonian belief that was thought to have brought eternal prosperity and marital happiness to the individuals who were blessed.

In 2004, a research team in Korea conducted a genetic analysis into the remains of the supposed descendants of King Suro and Queen Heo.

Researchers pointed out that this ethnic group was mostly the ruling members of the Gaya confederacy[42] and had a profound impact in both language and culture within the region (see Peninsular Japonic).

[47] In fact, Devil's Gate Cave is located in the land of ancient Korean kingdoms such as Dongbuyeo (Eastern Buyeo), Okjeo, and Goguryeo, which the evidence hints that Jōmon ancestry has close relation to that of early inhabitants of Korea.

[48] Despite the historical, archaeological and genealogical inaccuracies surrounding her existence, many Korean historians stated that her iconic image as a legendary figure should persist as a means for the two countries to remain on good terms.