Korean slang profile

동방

dongbang

A university club room

A university abbreviation of 동아리 방, meaning a club room. This usage is separate from the word for “east.”

This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.

01Examples, with English translations

Example by Julimmal
수업 끝나고 동방에서 쉬자.
Let's relax in the club room after class.
Quoted from a source
껌 하나 사서 씹지 못하는 현실에 좌절하고, 하늘 높은 줄 모르고 치솟는 물가에 절망하며 내 마음의 안식처 동방(동아리 방)으로 갔다.[2]
Frustrated that I could not afford even a piece of gum and despairing at soaring prices, I went to my refuge: the club room.
English translation by Julimmal.

August 2011Kyunghyang Shinmun: “Jinhwan Kim was embarrassed and said, ‘It feels more like a 동방 (club room) than an office,’ but 동방 really had a comfortable atmosphere.”[1]
March 2012Frustrated that I could not afford even a piece of gum and despairing at soaring prices, I went to my refuge: the club room.[2]

Short for “동아리방.” The 2012 source from Kyunghyang Shinmun explicitly gives this explanation. Who first used it and when have not been verified.

Evidence for the origin explanationHigh

The explanation is explicit in the sources, and at least two sources use the same meaning. When it was first used is unknown.

Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.