北

Originally a pictograph:

The character shows two people standing back-to-back, representing the idea of “to turn one’s back, oppose, flee.”

From this sense of “turning away / facing opposite directions,” it came to mean north, since in ancient Chinese orientation, people faced south, making the north “behind” them.

To preserve the older meaning “to turn one’s back,” a new graph 背 (with the “meat/flesh” radical 月) was created.

Semantic range:

- north, northern direction (북쪽);

- to turn the back, to oppose (등지다);

- to flee, retreat (달아나다);

- to lose, be defeated (지다, as in 敗北).

北方 (북방) — the north, northern regions

北韓 (북한) — North Korea

敗北 (패배) — defeat (lit. “to suffer north”)

北風 (북풍) — north wind

南北 (남북) — south and north

In Korean, 北 is normally read “북,” but in 敗北 it is read “배.”

In Chinese and Japanese, no separate “배” reading exists: 敗北 is pronounced bàiběi (Mandarin) and haiboku (Japanese).

This dual reading in Korean reflects historical phonological developments from Old Chinese pʕək.