[9] This is apparently derived from a Tibetan name Palichasi (Tibetan: པ་ལི་ཅ་སི, Wylie: pa li ca si, THL: pa li cha si),[16] of a pastoral ground known to Ladakhis as Silungle, roughly halfway downstream to Lagankhel.

[20] The Line of Actual Control (LAC) with Tibet runs on the southeast side of the village along the Charding Nullah.

After reaching the Indus River, the LAC follows its right bank, according Indian explorer Romesh Bhattacharji.

The Chinese still retain a claim to the Indian part of the disputed Demchok sector and object to any construction there.

[c] The largest of these is the site of Lagankhel (La Ganskyil), which is historically regarded as a village with permanent settlement.

Demchok (Sanskrit: Cakrasaṃvara) is the name of a Buddhist Tantric deity, who is believed to reside on the Mount Kailas, and whose imagery parallels that of Shiva in Hinduism.

[41][42] In 1834, the Dogra general Zorawar Singh conquered Ladakh and made it a tributary of the Sikh Empire.

[49] Sven Hedin, travelling through the area in 1907, noticed only ruins of houses on the Ladakhi side, formerly belonging to the Hemis monastery.

[31] According to the governor of Ladakh (wazir-e-wazarat), who visited the area in 1904–05, there were two 'zaminders' (landholders) on the Ladakhi side, viz., the representatives of the Hemis monastery and the former kardar (tax collector) of Rupshu.

[50] According to the Indian government, the Ladakhi Demchok village was used for seasonal cultivation by nomadic farmers.

[55] The final agreement carried the wording, "the customary route leading to Tashigong along the valley of the Indus River may continue to be traversed.

"[56] In 1954, India defined its borders with respect to Tibet, which ran five miles southeast of Ladakhi Demchok.

[59] There is persistent talk of the nomads losing their customary grazing lands to Chinese occupation and their livelihoods being lost.

[26] In April 2016, the Daily Excelsior reported that local discontent over Chinese army objections near the border resulted in demands for resettlement from Demchok.

[61] Later in 2016, the Nubra constituency MLA Deldan Namgyal reported that the Chinese military suggested to the sarpanch of Demchok "to join China rather than [sit] with India" due to the infrastructural differences across the border.

After repeated incursions by China since 2013, in March 2016 the Government of Jammu and Kashmir approved the upgrade of this road.

In June 2020, it was announced that Demchok is among 54 villages in the Ladakh region to receive mobile phone and internet connectivity via satellite under the Universal Service Obligation Funding.