The name Ui-dong comes from a mountain peak that resembles the ear of a cow (Wooi). Ui-dong was quite a distance from the capital castle, but it was recognized as one of the villages outside the capital. According to the Ordinance Yukjeon in the first year of King Gojong (1867), there was Wooidong-gye in Hanseong-bu Dong-bu Sungshin-bang (outside the capital castle), and in the literatures around Gabo reform times, there was Wooi-ri in East West Sunshin-bang (outside the capital castle) near the small east gate.