It was formed from part of Kowŏn County in December 1990.

[2] Sudong is the site of a major coal seam first discovered in 1918.

[3] The P'yŏngra Line of the Korean State Railway passes through the district.

Sudong is divided into 6 dong (neighbourhoods) and 14 ri (villages): Sudong-gu has a trolleybus line opened in 1979 running within this district,[4] linking residential areas to Kowon mine.

Kowon Tangwang Line runs to this district from Tunjon station, serving the colliery.