According to the Korea daily on the 17th, “I have told the South Koreans that you have to pay,” Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, said in a recent interview, referring to the situation on the Korean peninsula. If I were in the White House, South Korea would pay $10bn a year [ as US military spending in South Korea ] , and they would be happy to do that. South Korea is a money-making machine.”
Former President Donald Trump
However, the The Korea Herald reported on the 16th that the Korean media used different translations because the word “Money Machine” did not have an exact equivalent in Korean, and offers different interpretations of Donald Trump’s words, with subtle differences.
The Chosun Ilbo used a common translation — “Automated teller machine”– and several South Korean media outlets translated it as “ATM machines” or “Money printing machines.”. According to the The Korea Herald, the translations suggest that Donald Trump sees South Korea as a convenient source of funding for the US.
In addition, some media used bolder language. For example, the Korean business report translates“Money Machine” as“Source of cash flow.”. According to the The Korea Herald, the translation carried obvious negative connotations, suggesting that Donald Trump saw the country as a financial asset.
Unlike the above-mentioned media, Yonhap news agency in the report, “Money Machine” interpreted as“Rich countries. The The Hankyoreh also reports that the term can refer to atms, places with a lot of money or highly profitable areas.
But an American editor at the The Korea Herald said the term “Money Machine”, which he described as “Rude and derogatory”, is rarely used in the US to refer to other countries. South Korean translator Sun Zhiyun said the translation of the word was challenging because of Trans’s ambiguous language. Another translator, Quan Minzhen, said the ATM was a means to get money, not exactly what Donald Trump meant. She prefers to interpret it as a“Money machine”, intended to emphasise South Korea’s role as a reliable source of funding.
South Korea and the United States reached an agreement earlier this month to 20261.5192 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in defense The Hankyoreh, up 8.3 percent from 2025, according to the state-run China Daily. The agreement also stipulates that by 2030 the share of defence costs will rise in line with Consumer price index growth. In addition, Yonhap News Agency reported that Donald Trump had exaggerated the number of US troops in South Korea from 28,500 to “40,000” in discussions with the south to increase defence spending, and stressed that the U. S. military in South Korea“Is working in a dangerous environment.”.