Korean people began to eat sujebi and guksu (국수 noodles), both dishes made of wheat flour, from the early Goryeo period (935~1392), but the name sujebi (earlier sujeop-eo) dates from the mid Joseon period. Sujeop-eo is a combined hanja word comprising the terms su (hanja: 手; hangul: 수; literally "hand") and jeop (hanja: 摺; hangul: 접어 or 접다; literally "folded" or "folding").
From the Joseon period, people started making various types of sujeobi according to various purposes. Sujebi is today considered a typical commoner's food, but in the past, it was relatively rare and used for special occasions especially janchi (잔치; feast, banquet) such as dol janchi (the celebration of a baby's first birthday).
In North Korea, sujebi is called milgaru ddeudeo guk (밀가루뜨더국), which is the words comprising three words: milgaru (밀가루; literally "wheat flour") + ddeudeo (뜯어; literally "tearing" or "torn") guk (국; literally "soup").
The names of sujebi vary according to regions in Korea. [1]