U.S. pledges $300 million in security funding for S.E. Asia

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday pledged $300 million in new security funding for Southeast Asia.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday pledged $300 million in new security funding for Southeast Asia.

Pompeo announced the aid package while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a series of meetings in Singapore between foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their partners such as the United States, Japan and China.

Earlier this week, Pompeo unveiled $113 million in new U.S. investment to support technology, energy and infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific, widely seen as a step to counter China's rising clout in the region through President Xi Jinping's multibillion-dollar "One Belt, One Road" cross-border infrastructure initiative.
The chief U.S. diplomat also expressed concern about a U.S. media report that thousands of North Korean laborers are being allowed to enter Russia on new work permits.

U.S. officials say the move is a potential violation of U.N. sanctions aimed at cutting cash flows to Pyongyang while pressing it to give up nuclear weapons.