동무

First attested in the Beonyeok nogeoldae (飜譯老乞大 / 번역노걸대), 1517, as Middle Korean 도ᇰ모 (Yale: twongmwo). May be ultimately of Sino-Korean origin, from 동모 (同謀, dongmo, “planning together; complotting; collusion”). Alternatively, it could be of native origin and influenced by 동 (同, dong, “together”); compare Japanese 友 (とも) (tomo, “friend, pal”).

• IPA^(key)[to̞ŋmu]
• Phonetic Hangul[동무]

동무 • (dongmu)

1. (chiefly North Korea) friend, mate, pal, comrade
2. (chiefly South Korea) comrade (title used by a Communist regime), (obsolete, South Korea) friend

• 동지 (同志, dongji, “comrade”)

• 동무 (dongmu) was originally a non-ideological, neutral word for "friend" once used all over the Korean Peninsula, but North Koreans later adopted it as the equivalent of the Communist term of address "comrade". As a result, to South Koreans today the word has a heavy left-wing political tinge, and as such the South Koreans have shifted to using other words for friend like 친구 (chin-gu) or 벗 (beot).