2013 Sony Open Tennis – Women's Singles
Williams went on to win the tournament for the record sixth time, defeating five-time finalist Maria Sharapova 4–6, 6–3, 6–0 in the final.


2013 Sophia Awards
The 2013 Sophia Awards (Portuguese: Prémios Sophia 2013) were the 2013 edition of the Sophia Awards, an award presented by the Portuguese Academy of Cinema to honour the best in Portuguese filmmaking. The award ceremony took place on October 6, 2013 at the São Carlos National Theatre in Lisbon, Portugal.


2013 Soul Train Music Awards
The 2013 Soul Train Music Awards ceremony took place on December 1, 2013 at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada and was hosted by comedian and actor Anthony Anderson. The ceremony was aired on BET and Centric and included special tributes to Dionne Warwick, who received the Soul Train Legend Award and Keith Sweat given the Lifetime Achievement Award.


2013 Soul Train Music Awards
Tamar Braxton and Robin Thicke took the lead as the big winner's during the ceremony; including Braxton taking Record of the Year and Thicke taking Song of the Year.


2013 Soul Train Music Awards, Performers, Tribute performers
Keith Sweat performed in honor of his own tribute; a medley of his most popular songs, also a duet with Faith Evans for his song "Make It Last Forever".


2013 Soul Train Music Awards, Telecast
The Soul Train Awards were aired on BET and Centric on December 1, 2013.


2013 South Africa Sevens
The 2013 South Africa Sevens was the third tournament within the 2013–2014 Sevens World Series. It was held over the weekend of 7–8 December 2013 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, with South Africa emerging the winners.


2013 South Africa Sevens, Format
The teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team played everyone in their pool one time. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the Cup/Plate brackets. The bottom two teams from each group went to the Bowl/Shield brackets.


2013 South Africa Sevens, Teams
The participating teams and schedule were announced on 30 November 2013.


2013 South African Figure Skating Championships
The 2013 South African Figure Skating Championships were held in Cape Town on 1–2 March 2013. Skaters competed in the discipline of ladies' singles.


2013 South Alabama Jaguars football team
The 2013 South Alabama Jaguars football team represented the University of South Alabama in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Joey Jones and played their home games at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. This season marked the first season the Jaguars' were eligible for the Sun Belt championship and to play in a bowl game. They finished the season 6–6, 4–3 in Sun Belt play to finish in a fourth way tie four third place. Despite being bowl eligible, they were not invited to a bowl game.


2013 South American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
The 2013 South American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships were held in Cali, Colombia, July 27–30, 2013. The competition was organized by the Colombian Gymnastics Federation, and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2013 South American Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2013 South American Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Santiago, Chile, December 2–8, 2013. This was the 12th edition of the South American Artistic Gymnastics Championships for senior gymnasts. The competition was initially scheduled for August, and was approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2013 South American Basketball Championship for Women
The 2013 South American Basketball Championship for Women was the 33rd edition of the tournament. Eight teams featured the competition, held in Mendoza, Argentina from July 31 to August 4. Brazil was the defending champion and retain the title.


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship
The 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CONMEBOL qualifier, also commonly known as the 2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship, was the fifth Beach Soccer World Cup qualification championship for South America, held from February 10–17 at Parque Recreativo, in Merlo, a town in the San Luis Province of Argentina.


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship
The qualifiers were not coordinated by CONMEBOL at the time. The event was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), under the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifier title. CONMEBOL first recognised the tournament this year, under the title South American Beach Soccer Championship, also acknowledging the 2006–11 events as historic editions of the championship. CONMEBOL eventually began organising the qualifiers in 2017, under a new title.


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship, Participating teams
The same nine nations who played in the 2011 qualifiers have entered into the tournament:


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship, Match officials
Here is the list of match officials for this tournament:


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship, Group stage
The draw to divide the nine teams into two groups (one will have five teams, the other will have four) was conducted on 8 January 2013. The subsequent schedule seen here is the official schedule, which was finally released on 9 February 2013.


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship, Group stage
All match times will be correct to that of local time in Merlo, being Argentina Time, (UTC-03:00).


2013 South American Beach Soccer Championship, Playoff Stage, Seventh place playoff
Since there are nine teams in the tournament, it was decided that a group stage-like playoff to determine the bottom three placements would be held. This group would involve the 4th and 5th-place finishers in Group A and the 4th-place finisher in Group B.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics
The 48th South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Parque de Atletismo Campo Elías Gutiérrez in Cartagena, Colombia, between July 5-7, 2013.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics
A total of 44 events were contested, 22 by men and 22 by women.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics
Detailed reports on the championships were given by Eduardo Biscayart.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics, Records
One new area record in pole vault, as well as seven new South American Championships records and a couple of other (mainly national) records were set.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics, Medal summary
The results were published by the Federación Colombiana de Atletismo.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics, Participation
All 13 member federations of CONSUDATLE were participating summing up to about 322 athletes.


2013 South American Championships in Athletics – Results
These are the official results of the 2013 South American Championships in Athletics which took place on July 5–7 in Cartagena, Colombia.


2013 South American Cross Country Championships
The 2013 South American Cross Country Championships took place on February 24, 2013. The races were held at the Parque del Complejo Ayuí Resort y Spa Termal in Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina. A detailed report of the event was given for the IAAF.


2013 South American Cross Country Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 91 athletes from 7 countries participated. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.


2013 South American Footballer of the Year
The 2013 South American Footballer of the Year, given to the best football player in South America by Uruguayan newspaper El País through voting by journalists across the continent, was awarded to Ronaldinho of Atlético Mineiro on December 31, 2013.


2013 South American Footballer of the Year, Rankings
1Players who have been to Europe before ending the season.


2013 South American Junior Championships in Athletics
The 40th South American Junior Championships in Athletics (Spanish: Campeonatos Sudamericanos de Atletismo de Juveniles) were held from October 18–20, 2013 at the Estadio Jaime Zapata in Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina.


2013 South American Junior Championships in Athletics, Medal summary, Men
†: In the 400 metres hurdles event, Gerald Drummond from  Costa Rica was 3rd in 53.74, running as a guest.


2013 South American Junior Championships in Athletics, Medal table (unofficial)
A medal count was published. There is a slight difference to an unofficial medal count. However, another source supports the number of 7 gold medals for Colombia as published below.


2013 South American Junior Championships in Athletics, Participation
The participation of 273 athletes (including 2 guests) from 12 countries (including 1 guest country) is published.


2013 South American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
The 2013 South American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Santiago, Chile, December 10–15, 2013.


2013 South American Roller Hockey Clubs Championship
The South American Roller Hockey Clubs Championship was to be the 28th edition of the Roller Hockey South American Club Championship. It was held in November 2013 in Santiago, in Chile. The tournament was considered cancelled, after the illegalities committed during the tournament by the organization and the South American Roller Sports Confederation.


2013 South American Rugby Championship "A"
The 2013 South American Rugby Championship (Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) Championship) Division A will double as a 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifier. The matches will be held in Montevideo, Uruguay and Temuco, Chile between 27 April and 4 May 2013.


2013 South American Rugby Championship "A"
Argentina already qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, after being quarter-finalists at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The highest place team after Argentina will progress to a playoff with the losing team in the North America playoff, either Canada or the US.


2013 South American Rugby Championship "A"
Argentina, Uruguay and Chile have qualified for this tournament, after finishing in the top three of the 2012 edition. The fourth spot went to Brazil, decided by a playoff between the 4th placed team at the 2012 South American Rugby Championship "A" (Brazil) and the 2012 South American Rugby Championship "B" champions (Paraguay).


2013 South American Rugby Championship "B"
The Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) B Division Championship in Luque, Paraguay was held during August 2013.


2013 South American Rugby Championship "B", 2013 CONSUR B Championship
Number in brackets indicates the pre-tournament IRB ranking of team


2013 South American Rugby Championship "C"
The Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) Championship C Division Championship took place between 1–7 December 2013 at Colegio Franco Costarricense in San Jose, Costa Rica. This was the second time CONSUR has run a 3rd division championship.


2013 South American Rugby Championship "C"
Costa Rica hosted Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador, with the tournament played over three game days. The tournament was conducted as a single round robin tournament.


2013 South American Trampoline Championships
The 2013 South American Trampoline Championships were held in Bogotá, Colombia, December 10–15, 2013. The competition was organized by the Colombian Gymnastics Federation and approved by the International Gymnastics Federation.


2013 South American U-15 Championship
The 2013 South American Under-15 Football Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-15 Bolivia 2013) is the 6th South American Under-15 Football Championship for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It is set to begin on November 16, and end on November 30. The winning team will represent South America in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Football Tournament.


2013 South American U-15 Championship, Venues
Santa Cruz and Tarija are the main venues of the tournament. Montero was announced as an extra venue days before the start of the tournament.


2013 South American U-15 Championship, Referees
On October 23, 2013 a referee and an assistant referee from each country where chosen for the tournament.


2013 South American U-15 Championship, First round
The First round took place between the 16th and 25 November. The top two teams in the group advanced to the next stage.


2013 South American U-15 Championship, First round
If teams finish level on points, order will be determined according to the following criteria:


2013 South American U-15 Championship, Final round
The final stage is scheduled to take place between 28 November and 30 November.


2013 South American U-17 Championship
The 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Argentina 2013) was the 15th U-17 tournament for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was held in Argentina.


2013 South American U-17 Championship
This tournament gave four berths to the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was held in United Arab Emirates.


2013 South American U-17 Championship, Choice and background
Argentina was chosen as host country, as agreed at a meeting of the executive committee of CONMEBOL on 18 March 2011 at the headquarters of South American football being located in Luque, Paraguay. The meeting lasted about 3 hours and during that time it was decided to have Argentina as the headquarters for both the 2013 South American U-17 and U-20 Tournaments in 2013.


2013 South American U-17 Championship, Match officials
The list of referees selected for the tournament was announced on 9 March 2013 by CONMEBOL's Referee Commission. The referees were:


2013 South American U-17 Championship, First stage
When teams finished level on points, the final order was determined according to:


2013 South American U-17 Championship squads
All the players had to be born after 1 January 1996.


2013 South American U-17 Championship squads
Players name marked in bold have been capped at full international level.


2013 South American U-17 Women's Championship
The 2013 South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship is the fourth instance of the South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship. It was played from 12 to 29 September in Paraguay. The top three teams qualified to the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup to be held in Costa Rica. The tournament was won by Venezuela, winning their first title.


2013 South American U-17 Women's Championship
The tournament was originally scheduled from 7 to 25 August but rescheduled in July 2013.


2013 South American U-17 Women's Championship, Group stage
The group stage draw was held on 2 August 2013. Paraguay as hosts and Brazil as champions were fixed as heading groups A and B.


2013 South American U-17 Women's Championship, Group stage
If teams finish level on points, order will be determined according to the following criteria:


2013 South American U-17 Women's Championship, Final round
The top two teams of each group play another round-robin. Venezuela, Colombia and Paraguay qualified to the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica.


2013 South American U-20 Championship squads
The 2013 South American U-20 Championship was an international association football tournament held in Argentina. The ten national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 22 players; only players in these squads are eligible to take part in the tournament.


2013 South American U-20 Championship squads
Each player had to have been born after 1 January 1993. (Source for player names:)


2013 South American U-20 Championship squads
Players names marked in bold have been capped at full international level.


2013 South American Youth Football Championship
The 2013 South American Youth Football Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 Juventud de América Argentina 2013, Portuguese: Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-20 Juventude da América Argentina 2013) was an association football competition for national under-20 teams in the South America (CONMEBOL). The tournament was held in Argentina from 9 January to 3 February 2013 and was won by Colombia, with Paraguay as runners-up.


2013 South American Youth Football Championship
Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile, which were the first four teams of this tournament qualified for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Turkey.


2013 South American Youth Football Championship, Host selection
Argentina was chosen as host country at a meeting of the CONMEBOL Executive Committee on 18 March 2011 at CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque, Paraguay. At the meeting, it was decided to make Argentina the host nation for both the South American Under-20 and Under-17 tournaments in 2013.


2013 South American Youth Football Championship, First stage
When teams finished level of points, the final order was determined according to:


2013 South American Youth Football Championship, Final stage
The final stage was scheduled to take place between 20 January and 3 February.


2013 South American Youth Games
The 2013 South American Youth Games, also known as the I South American Youth Games, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Lima, Peru from September 20 to 29, 2013. Approximately 1,200 athletes from 14 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 95 events from 19 sports and disciplines, making the first event in the history of the games.


2013 South Asian Games
The 2013 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, was a scheduled multi-sport event  to take place in Mizoram and Shillong, India. With this edition of the Games, India became the second country to host the Games three times (the previous editions being held in Kolkata in 1987 and Chennai in 1995), after Bangladesh. It was also the first time that Delhi hosted the Games. The Games witnessed a change in the original host country, and faced delays which pushed back the conduct of the Games by several months.


2013 South Asian Games, Host change
Originally, as per tradition of bringing the Games to each and every country of South Asia, Bhutan was selected to host the 12th edition of the Games. However, at the 41st South Asian Olympic Council held at Dhaka in February 2010, Bhutan expressed its inability to host the Games. So, to replace Bhutan, Delhi stepped in as host of the Games. Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi officially received the SAG flag in Dhaka after the 11th edition of the Games drew to a close on February 9, 2010. The Sports Ministry of India said, in an official press statement, that Delhi had been chosen as host so that the sport infrastructure built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games remains in use.


2013 South Asian Games, Delay
Initially, the Games were expected to be held in October, 2012. However, during the General Body meeting of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on December 16, 2011, it was decided to postpone the Games to February, 2013. The primary concern highlighted was that the original plan meant that the Games would be held only two months after the 2012 Summer Olympics, a fact which made athletes uncomfortable. In addition, the Delhi Government had stated that "accommodation would be a problem during October-November".


2013 South Asian Games, Delay
In April 2012, the IOA sent letters to all the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of South Asia, announcing that the Games will be held for eight days beginning from February 13, 2013; further discussions would take place at an all-NOC meeting in Moscow. President of the Nepal Olympic Committee Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan also reported about the proposed additions of fencing, equestrian, gymnastics and the triathlon to the Games schedule. As of January 2013, host city and dates of the games were not yet confirmed.


2013 South Asian Games, Delay
The International Olympic Committee banned the Indian Committee in March for political interference (the national government played a role in Olympic officials' selection). This delayed the event further as the ban was only lifted in May and the possibility of a low-cost edition of the games was raised among ongoing hosting discussions and poor relations with neighboring Pakistan due to the 2013 India–Pakistan border incidents.


2013 South Asian Games, Delay
2 years later, on the 11 February 2014, the International Olympic Committee decided to lift the ban. Up until now, the Indian side competed in Olympic events such as the Winter Olympic Games as independent participants.


2013 South Asian Games, Delay
A year later, on 5 June 2015, the uncertainty over the venue to host the 12th South Asian Games ended with the Sports Ministry and Indian Olympic Association deciding to hold the regional multi-sporting event in Guwahati and Shillong in November-December 2015. However, this was postponed even further to a tentative date of February 2016.


2013 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team
The 2013 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2013 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Gamecocks played their home games in Carolina Stadium. The team was coached by Chad Holbrook, who was in his first season as head coach at Carolina.


2013 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team, Rankings
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2013 South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team, Gamecocks in the 2013 MLB Draft
The following members of the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball program were drafted in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft.


2013 South Carolina Gamecocks football team
The 2013 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its East Division. The team was led by head coach Steve Spurrier, in his ninth year, and played its home games at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.


2013 South Carolina Gamecocks football team, Players, Depth chart
Projected starters and primary backups versus Mississippi State on November 2, 2013.


2013 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team
The 2013 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represented South Carolina State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 12th year head coach Oliver Pough and played their home games at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 7–1 in MEAC play to win a share of the MEAC championship with Bethune-Cookman. Due to their loss to Bethune-Cookman, they did not receive the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. However, they did receive an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the first round to Furman.


2013 South Carolina's 1st congressional district special election
A special election for South Carolina's 1st congressional district was held on May 7, 2013, to fill the seat following the resignation of U.S. Representative Tim Scott, who was appointed to the United States Senate by Governor Nikki Haley to fill the seat previously held by Jim DeMint. DeMint resigned from the Senate on January 1, 2013, to accept a position as president of The Heritage Foundation.


2013 South Carolina's 1st congressional district special election
The filing period for candidates lasted between January 18 and January 28, 2013. The special primary elections took place on March 19, 2013. Businesswoman Elizabeth Colbert Busch won the Democratic Party primary and Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina who held the seat from 1995 to 2001, advanced to a runoff with former Charleston County Councilman Curtis Bostic for the Republican Party nomination. Prior to the runoff, 14 Republicans and one Democrat signed the "Reject the Debt" pledge put out by the nonpartisan Coalition to Reduce Spending. In the runoff election on April 2, Sanford defeated Bostic. Eugene Platt, a James Island Public Service Commissioner, was nominated by the South Carolina Green Party. In the general election on May 7, Sanford received 54% of the vote, beating Colbert Busch (45%) and Platt (1%).


2013 South Carolina's 1st congressional district special election, General election
On May 7, 2013, Mark Sanford won the election and took the seat vacated by U.S. Representative Tim Scott.


2013 South Dakota Coyotes football team
The 2013 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second year head coach Joe Glenn and played their home games in the DakotaDome. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 3–5 in MFVC play to finish in a tie for seventh place.


2013 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team
The 2013 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 16th year head coach John Stiegelmeier and played their home games at Coughlin–Alumni Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 9–5, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in a four way tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs where they defeated Northern Arizona in the first round before losing in the second round to Eastern Washington.


2013 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team, Schedule
The Dakota Marker matchup against North Dakota State set a new single-game home attendance record (16,498).


2013 South East Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships
The 19th South East Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships 2013 were held at the Garden Square of the Harrison Plaza in Manila, Philippines.


2013 South Florida Bulls football team
The 2013 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida (USF) in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulls played their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 2013 college football season was the 17th season overall for the Bulls, and their first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by first year head coach Willie Taggart after USF fired Skip Holtz at the conclusion of the 2012 season. This season followed a season that saw the Bulls win their fewest games in program history (3). They broke that record by only winning 2 games in 2013, finishing 2–10, 2–6 in American Athletic play to finish in eighth place.


2013 South Korea cyberattack
In 2013 there were two major sets of cyberattacks on South Korean targets attributed to elements within North Korea.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, March
On 20 March 2013, three South Korean television stations and a bank suffered from frozen computer terminals in a suspected act of cyberwarfare. ATMs and mobile payments were also affected. The South Korean communications watchdog, the Korea Communications Commission, raised their alert level on cyber-attacks to three on a scale of five. North Korea has been blamed for similar attacks in 2009 and 2011 and was suspected of launching this attack as well. This attack also came at a period of elevated tensions between the two Koreas, following Pyongyang’s nuclear test on 12 February. South Korean officials linked the incident to a Chinese IP address, which increased suspicion of North Korea as "[i]ntelligence experts believe that North Korea routinely uses Chinese computer addresses to hide its cyber-attacks."


2013 South Korea cyberattack, March
The attacks on all six organizations derived from one single entity. The networks were attacked by malicious codes, rather than distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks as suspected at the beginning. It appeared to have used only hard drive overwrites. This cyberattack “damaged 32,000 computers and servers of media and financial companies.” The Financial Services Commission of South Korea said that Shinhan Bank reported that its Internet banking servers had been temporarily blocked and that Jeju Bank and NongHyup reported that operations at some of their branches had been paralyzed after computers were infected with viruses and their files erased. Woori Bank reported a hacking attack, but said it had suffered no damage. Computer shutdowns also hit companies including the Korean Broadcasting System, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, and YTN.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, March
This cyberattack “caused US$750 million in economic damage alone. (Feakin 2013)” Also, “[t]he frequency of cyber attacks by North Korea and rampant cyber espionage activities attributed to China are of great concern to the South Korean government. (Lewis 2013)”


2013 South Korea cyberattack, June
The June 25 cyber terror is an information leak that occurred on June 25, 2013 that targeted Cheongwadae and other institutions. The hacker that caused this incident admitted that the information of 2.5 million Saenuri Party members, 300 thousand soldiers, 100 thousand Cheongwadae homepage users and 40 thousand United States Forces Korea members. There were apparent hacking attacks on government websites. The incident happened on the 63rd anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, which was a war that divided the Korean peninsula. Since the Blue House’s website was hacked, the personal information of a total of 220,000 people, including 100,000 ordinary citizens and 20,000 military personnel, using the “Cheong Wa Dae” website were hacked. The website of the office for Government Policy Co-ordination and some media servers were affected as well.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, June
While multiple attacks were organized by multiple perpetrators, one of the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the South Korean government websites were directly linked to the “DarkSeoul” gang and Trojan.Castov. Malware related to the attack is called "DarkSeoul" in the computer world and was first identified in 2012. It has contributed to multiple previous high-profile attacks against South Korea.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, June, Timeline
At approximately 2013 June 25 9:10 AM, websites such as the Cheongwadae website, main government institute websites, news, etc. became victims of website change, DDoS, information thievery and other such attacks. When connecting to the Cheongwadae homepage words such as 'The great Kim Jong-un governor' and 'All hail the unified chairman Kim Jong-un! Until our demands are met our attacks will continue. Greet us. We are anonymous' would appear with a photo of president Park Geun-hye.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, June, Timeline
The government changed the status of cyber danger to 'noteworthy' on June 25 10:45 AM, then changed it to 'warning' on 3:40 PM. Cheongwadae uploaded an apology on June 28.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, June, Timeline
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning revealed on July 16 that both the March and June incidents corresponded with past hacking methods used by North Korea. However, the attacked targets include a Japanese Korean Central News Agency site and major North Korean anti-South websites, and the hackers also have announced that they would release information of approximately 20 high-ranked North Korean army officers with countless pieces of information on North Korean weaponry.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, Response
Following the hacking in June there was further speculation that North Korea was responsible for the attacks. Investigators found that “an IP address used in the attack matched one used in previous hacking attempts by Pyongyang.” Park Jae-moon, a former director-general at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said, “82 malignant codes [collected from the damaged devices] and internet addresses used for the attack, as well as the North Korea's previous hacking patterns," proved that "the hacking methods were the same" as those used in the 20 March cyber attacks.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, Response
With this incident, the Korean government publicly announced that they would take charge of the “Cyber Terror Response Control Tower” and along with different ministries, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) will be responsible to build a comprehensive response system using the “National Cyber Security Measures.”


2013 South Korea cyberattack, Response
The South Korean government asserted a Pyongyang link in the March cyberattacks, which has been denied by Pyongyang. A 50-year-old South Korean man identified as Mr. Kim is suspected to be involved in the attack.


2013 South Korea cyberattack, Appearance in the South Korean National Geographic
The South Korean National Geographic published cyber terror as one of the top 10 keywords of 2013 due to these attacks.


2013 South Korean Figure Skating Championships
The 2013 South Korean Figure Skating Championships (Korean: 제67회 전국 남녀 피겨스케이팅 종합선수권대회) was the South Korean Figure Skating Championships for the 2012–13 season. It was the 67th edition of those championships held. It was organized by the Korean Skating Union.


2013 South Korean Figure Skating Championships
Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's and ladies' singles on the senior, junior, and novice levels for the title of national champion of South Korea. The results of the national championships were used to choose the Korean teams to the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships.


2013 South Korean Figure Skating Championships
The competition was held between 4 and 6 January, 2013 at the Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot
In August 2013, South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, accused Lee Seok-ki, a lawmaker from the leftist Unified Progressive Party (UPP),of plotting to overthrow the country's government if war broke out with North Korea. He allegedly leda secret May meeting of 130 members of his party aimed at attacking South Korean infrastructure if the heightened tensions between Koreas in the spring of 2013 had led to war.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot
After further investigation, on September 26, 2013, South Korean prosecutors indicted Lee Seok-ki on charges that he was plotting a pro-North Korea rebellion to overthrow the government, saying his plan posed a "grave" national security threat. On 17 February 2014, he was sentenced to 12 years of prison by a district court although the sentence was reduced to 9 years by the Seoul High Court upon appeal, which was upheld by South Korea’s Supreme Court.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot
On 3 November 2014, following Lee's initial conviction, the government of President Park Geun-hye asked the Constitutional Court of South Korea to disband the UPP. and on 18 December 2014 the party was disbanded, stripping Lee and 4 other lawmakers of their seats in parliament.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) investigation
"The National Intelligence Service carried out detailed investigations into this case for the past three years and confirmed Representative Lee Seok-ki is suspected of assisting the national enemy and conspiring in a rebellion based on various evidences, such as the testimony of witnesses, the comments Lee made at several secret meetings, confiscated documents and some other materials contained in USB devices," Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-an said during a speech at the National Assembly on September 4, 2013.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) investigation
The 10 major suspects who had been investigated by NIS are Lee Seok-ki (a lawmaker of the UPP), Woo Wi-young (an ex-spokesman of the UPP), Kim Hong-ryul (the Kyunggi provincial chairman of the UPP), Kim Keun-rae (a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP), Hong Soon-seok (a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP), Lee Sang-ho (an adviser of Kyunggi Alliance for Progressive Movement), Lee Young-chun (a Kyunggi-Paju branch manager of Korean Confederation of Trade Union), Jo Yang-won (the representative of Social Trend Institute), Han Dong-geun (a former Suwon city chairman of the UPP), Park Min-jung (a former youth chairman of the UPP).


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) investigation
NIS had acquired court approvals for wiretapping and had been collecting a wide range of evidence by closely monitoring the secret meetings of Lee Seok-ki and his colleagues. The NIS is said to have secured recordings of Lee's speech at a meeting of the East Kyunggi Coalition, the mainstream faction of the UPP


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) investigation
The NIS investigation focuses on "Revolutionary Organization (RO)," the true nature of which was first informed by an internal whistle blower of the UPP. He, identified only as 40-year-old Mr. Yi, is known to have been one of the core members of the insurgent group. Reports said Mr. Yi had been disappointed by North Korean submarine attack on a South Korean corvette "Cheonanham" in March 2010, and the RO's unconditional loyalty to North Korean regime, and he finally decided to reveal the treason plot and get a 'new life.' He allegedly handed in a USB drive containing the RO's doctrine and goal, members' activities, and materials for ideological study. The NIS was reported to have said that Mr. Yi's statements coincide largely with what was found from the subsequent probe.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) investigation
On September 17, 2013, the NIS searched and seized the houses of five people: Hong Sung-gyu (spokesman for the UPP), Kim Yang-hyun (Pyungtek city chairman of the UPP), Kim Seok-young (Ansan city Sangrok Gap area chairman of the UPP), Choi Jin-seon (the representative of Hwasung Center for Labor and Human Rights), Yoon Yong-bae (chairman of the organizing committee of the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movements).


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Intelligence Service's (NIS) investigation
On September 24, 2013, the NIS additionally searched and seized the office of Ahn So-hee, a member of Paju city council, for violating the National Security Act.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Arrest, search, and seizure
On August 28, 2013, agents from the National Intelligence Service raided the homes and offices of an opposition lawmaker, Lee Seok-ki, and other members of a far-left opposition party, detaining three of them on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Arrest, search, and seizure
The three persons detained were Hong Soon-seok, a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP; Han Dong-geun, a former Suwon city chairman of the UPP; and Lee Sang-ho, an adviser of Kyunggi Alliance for Progressive Movement. And a total of 14 have been banned from leaving the country.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Arrest, search, and seizure
The NIS agents, who raided Lee Seok-ki's office in the National Assembly with the warrant at 8:10 am, faced resistance of Lee's aides and were able to enter the office only after 20 minutes of struggle. But inside the office, Lee Seok-ki's fellow lawmakers including Kim Mi-hee blocked the door of another Lee's office room until 3:00 pm. Ahead of the raid, Lee's aides are alleged to have shredded documents of unknown content.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Arrest, search, and seizure
Lee Seok-ki was said to appear at 6:58 am, August 28, at his studio apartment at Mapo-gu, the western part of Seoul, disguised and wearing a cap, and ran away in a cab as soon as he found his place was being searched by investigators. He showed up at the National Assembly hall on the next day with the suspicion that he had already destroyed important evidence. Investigators allegedly seized 57 letters of vowing loyalty to Lee Seok-ki, tap detection equipment, and 91 million won worth of bank notes (US$1 = 1,100 Korean won).


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Assembly's approval for arrest
On September 2, 2013, South Korea's National Assembly received the government's arrest motion for lawmaker Lee Seok-ki, signed by President Park Geun-hye. According to the Korean National Assembly Act, the arrest motion should be decided by vote in the plenary session 24 hours after and within 72 hours from the report of the motion. Kang Chang-hee, the speaker of the National Assembly, submitted the proposal of opening plenary session from September 2 to December 10 and put it to a vote, which was the preliminary procedure to pass the arrest motion.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Assembly's approval for arrest
The proposal was passed with 255 in favor, 2 against, and 7 abstentions. Kim Mi-hee and Kim Jae-yeon from the UPP opposed the proposal. Seven abstainers, all of whom were from the opposition Democratic Party, were Moon Jae-in, Lee In-young, Kim Yong-ik, Do Jong-hwan, Yu Sung-yeop, Eun Soo-mi, and Lim Soo-kyung. Lee Seok-ki didn't participate in the vote at all.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Assembly's approval for arrest
On September 4, 2013, the South Korean National Assembly overwhelmingly passed a proposal that would lift Lee Seok-ki's legislative immunity against arrest. It is believed to be the first time the assembly has passed such a motion over rebellion charges. The vote was 258 in favor and 14 against, with 11 abstentions and 6 invalid. After the vote the Suwon District Court issued a warrant against Lee Seok-ki, and the arrest was made by the National Intelligent Service in a speedy manner. In executing the warrant at Lee's office in the National Assembly, NIS investigators had nearly an hour-long confrontation with vehemently-resisting UPP members who blocked the path to Lee's Office.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Assembly's approval for arrest
Prior to the National Assembly's vote, Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-an attended the session and explained the reasons of filing the arrest motion against Lee. "Lee Seok-ki organized and led the Revolutionary Organization (RO), a rebel group, the purpose of which was to revolutionize South Korean society with 'Juche,' the political ideology of the North Korean state. He plotted a pro-North rebellion by instigating the RO members to make physical and military preparation for war between North and South Korea, and by drawing up riot plans such as destroying the nation's infrastructure.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Assembly's approval for arrest
Minister Hwang declared that Lee Seok-ki committed following three crimes. 1. Rebellion conspiracy: A collusion and an agreement between two or more persons on plans and contents of rebellion crime. According to the judicial precedent of the Supreme Court of Korea, it does not require that a detail plan of action must be conspired to constitute an offense. 2 . Instigation of rebellion: Any word or action that promotes or stimulates to commit insurgency. 3. Benefiting enemy, the offense under National Security Act: To praise, inspire, propagate or conform to the activities of anti-government organization while knowing that such an act endangers national security or free democratic basic order.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, The National Assembly's approval for arrest
According to Minister Hwang, the Prosecutor's Office made a decision that Lee Seok-ki and his followers' crime is a clear danger and defiance to the free democratic basic order of the Republic of Korea, after a close analysis of the evidence. Prosecutors also said there are enough grounds for imprisonment of Lee Seok-ki and his accomplices, considering the following facts. The members of RO, a rebellion group, abided by the rules of organizational security. Under the rules they planned and executed detailed security principles and guidelines, such as destroying evidences. It was highly possible for the criminals to obstruct the investigators' activities of identifying the true nature of the RO.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Lee Seok-ki allegedly called on his colleagues to prepare to conduct a "speedy war" against the South Korean government should Pyongyang issue an order to attack, according to a transcript of his address during their secret meeting in May 2013. Lee, of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, was accused of forming an underground pro-North Korean organization and plotting and instigating an armed revolt. The group, known as "RO" is thought to have been formed within the East Kyunggi Coalition and have around 130 members. The East Kyunggi Coalition is a left-leaning political group that backs Lee.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
According to the request for Lee Seok-ki's arrest submitted to the National Assembly on September 2, 2013, Lee claimed at a meeting of the group in May 2013 that North Korea had effectively declared war and that they should prepare an offensive. "As of March 5, the North Korean People's Army command declared the armistice agreement invalid. Scrapping the armistice agreement means war. Let's prepare for war throughout the country," Lee is quoted as saying. Lee Seok-ki is also alleged to have called on his "comrades" to collaborate to show "limitless creative thinking" in their attacks. Lee also allegedly told the attendants of his supporters' rally in March 2012 that the parliament would become the "frontline for class strife," and that the current political environment would lead to separation of "revolutionary and anti-revolutionary forces."


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Lee Seok-ki was reported to have said that the current bipartisan system in South Korea was a result of the American colonists' strategy to divide and control South Korea. At a secret meeting held in August 2012 near Seoul area, Lee presented the plan to 'seize power' by making his party the largest opposition party through the 2014 local election and the 2016 general election, and by finally winning the presidential election in 2017.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
The RO group allegedly discussed details of how to make preparations to strike the South Korean government and the U.S. military, such as by incapacitating internet networks and infrastructure for oil and gas supplies and other major logistical facilities in the Seoul area.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Specifically, they are known to have conspired to destroy the Hye-hwa branch of Korea Telecom Corporation, the Internet Data Center in Bundang, and the Pyung-taek distribution base.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Hye-hwa branch of KT is in charge of core telephone business and internet service. If Hye-hwa branch goes wrong, the internet speed in the country can be substantially slower. The "Internet Chaos" of South Korea in 2003 was caused by a server outage in the Hye-hwa branch, paralyzing the nationwide internet service network.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Internet Data Center in Bundang is also equipped with various internet server platforms. Even though the IDCs are located separately at various places such as Mapo, Seon-reung in Seoul, a terrorist attack on even a single IDC can cause serious telecommunication problems.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
In Pyung-taek distribution base, Korea National Oil Corporation maintains a large-scale facilities that store about 6.2 million barrels of oil and liquefied petroleum gas for use in case of national emergency or war. If the base is attacked, a large explosion and fire will seriously damage the storage facilities and nearby area.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
In March 2013, when tension rose in Korean peninsula after North Korea vowed to nullify the armistice agreement, Lee Seok-ki allegedly issued "three major guidelines of preparing war" for the members of RO, the insurgent group. The guidelines, which were delivered by regional RO leaders like Hong Soon-seok (a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of UPP), are as follows.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
1. Build a solidarity organization for emergency as soon as possible. 2 . Perform a large-scale propaganda using a crowd of people just like the time when "the Mad Cow Disease riot" hit the nation. 3. Gather information on military facilities such as U.S. Army camps, U.S. radar bases, and power plants.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
The leaders of the RO allegedly educated its members the method of destroying criminal evidence. On May 8, 2013, Hong Soon-seok (a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP) gave a guideline to Han Dong-geun (a former Suwon city chairman of the UPP), urging him to break and swallow USB drives in case of emergency like investigators' raid. There is also an instruction for escape, under which RO members have to look for a hiding place of their own and always possess 100 thousand Korean won in cash. They were also told to evade the investigators' chase by fleeing and exchanging secret passwords when reconnecting a RO member.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
On April 5, 2013, at the office of Suwon Medical Cooperation, Hong Soon-seok and Han Dong-geun had a secret meeting with the RO "cell" members, according to Lee Seok-ki's prior order. At the meeting all the members vowed loyalty to North Korea, watching the North Korean war movie "Wol-mi do island(1982)." The movie makes a hero of the North Korean artillery soldiers stationed in 'Wol-mi do' island, who fought U.N. troops conducting the famous 'Incheon landing operation' during the Korean War.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Lee Seok-ki requested over 80 documents from the government including confidential national defense materials related to the American and the South Korean armed forces. He requested confidential material on the U.S. and South Korean joint strategic response in case of an attack from North Korea. Since Lee was elected as a proportional representative to the National Assembly in April 2012, he requested 84 documents from 10 different government branches, of which 46 were related to military issues and 36 were related to U.S.-South Korea armed forces and relations between Seoul and Washington.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
In April 2013, when North Korea was protesting annual joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S., Lee requested from the Defense Ministry materials on Seoul and Washington's joint strategy in case of attack by Pyongyang. He also requested materials on the March 2013 South Korea-U.S. agreement to carry out a joint counterattack in case of any surgical strike on the South from the North, the strength of a counter-provocation plan and details on the military command in such cases of attacks.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
He looked into what kind of military support was available to the South in case of such an attack, including from U.S. Forces Japan and the Unified Nations Command. He wanted information on who has operational control in times of crisis on the Korean Peninsula and cooperation among the armed forces of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Lee Seok-ki had visited North Korea on two different occasions, the South Korean government said on September 2, 2013. Reports said Lee Seok-ki traveled to North Korea to secretly meet with North Korean officials. Any such meeting could link the rebellion plot to North Korea. "Records showed he was at the Mount Kumgang resort on March 31-April 1 in 2005 and again on March 16–18 of 2007," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk said. Kim said that Lee went to the scenic mountain on a package tour with members of CN Communications, an advertising company he managed. The spokesman said that during the 2005 trip, Lee Seok-ki was on parole after being released from prison. He had been imprisoned for pro-North Korean activities.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
Authorities reportedly found circumstantial evidence, from which it could be inferred that RO members secretly visited North Korea, contacted the North Korean spy agency, and maintained liaison with highly trained reconnaissance agents of the North. "Lee Seok-ki and the RO's core members had worked in the People's Democratic Revolution Party(PDRP). Since PDRP had conducted espionage activities for North Korea receiving orders from it, it is also highly likely that the RO is connected to North Korea in one way or another," the authorities said. Especially the fact that Kim Keun-rae(a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP), Jo Yang-won(the representative of Social Trend Institute), and other RO members had visited North Korea individually or in a group, was presented as strong circumstantial evidence.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
The National Intelligence Service found core members of the RO had kept in contact with an unidentified person suspected of being a North Korean spy. The NIS continues to probe into their contact route and the contents of communication among them. Last year they detected Lee Sang-ho(an adviser of Kyunggi Alliance for Progressive Movement) and Hong Soon-seok(a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP) had made an international calls on a regular basis, using specific public phones in Seoul and Suwon city. The NIS tapped those public phones legitimately with warrants issued by the court.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
As a result, they found Lee Sang-ho and other suspects showed a consistent pattern of behavior: The always sent an e-mail to an unknown G-mail user in the U.S. right after they made an international call to the suspected spy from North. During the phone call, they allegedly mentioned the activities of the RO and had a dialogue like "I will send you an e-mail."


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Criminal charges and suspicion
The suspected spy, who communicated with the RO members, was also found to have forward the e-mails to China using a sophisticated security tool to evade tracking.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
On September 26, 2013, South Korean prosecutors indicted Lee Seok-ki, a left-wing lawmaker, on charges that he was plotting a pro-North Korea rebellion to overthrow the government, saying his plan posed a "grave" national security threat. Senior prosecutor Kim Soo-nam told a news conference that Lee and his colleagues specifically brought up possible targets to attack, including a telecommunications facility in Seoul, during the May meeting, which drew 130 people. He said the plotters also discussed using websites to find ways to manufacture firearms and bombs. According to transcripts of conversations at the meeting publicized by South Korean media, some participants talked about ways to make powerful BB guns and searching the internet to find ways to build homemade bombs.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
Kim said Lee Seo-ki believed that high tensions between the two Koreas in 2013 spring would lead to war. "It's an incident that an underground revolutionary organization....systemically and collectively plotted to overthrow a free democracy and posed a grave threat to" South Korea's national security, Kim said. He said Lee Seok-ki was indicted on two other charges-inciting a rebellion and praising North Korea in violation of South Korea's anti-Pyongyang security law.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
On September 25, 2013, three of Lee Seok-ki's colleagues were also indicted. They are Hong Soon-seok(a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP), Lee Sang-ho(an adviser of Kyunggi Alliance for Progressive Movement), and Han Dong-geun(a former Suwon city chairman of the UPP).


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
As of September 26, 2013, totally 4 suspects were indicted after searching and seizing 16 people. The investigation continues into other suspects such as lawmakers Kim Mi-hee and Kim Jae-yeon, both of whom are suspected of participating in the secret meeting of the rebellion group.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
The two major criminal charges of Lee Seok-ki presented in the bill of indictment are as follows .


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
1. "Plotting insurgency" with a resolution of violent revolutionIn March 2013, Lee issued the three guidelines for war:


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
a. Build a solidarity organization for emergency as soon as possible. b. Perform a large-scale propaganda using a crowd of people just like the time when "the Mad Cow Disease riot" hit the nation. c. Gather information on military facilities such as U.S. Army camps, U.S. radar bases, and power plants. He made a lecture to 20 people from the CNP Group, which was responsible for the finance and the strategy of the RO, that they should resolve to make ideological and physical preparation; strengthen security against white terror and preventive custody; and wage an unconventional partisan war in the rear.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Prosecutor's indictment
2. Violation of the National Security Act, by praising and inspiring Lee participated in "the rally for supporting Lee Seok-ki" with Hong Soon-seok(a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP) and other 400 members of the organization and sang "the song for comrades of revolution." He also violated the National Security Act by possessing materials for "benefiting" the enemy: 90 original North Korean contents including a CD of "the works of the great general Kim Jung-il"; 15 North Korean movies ; 30 North Korean novels;27 materials written by pro-North organization and people; and 28 other works.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, Investigation and legal proceedings, Judgment of first trial
On 18 February 2014, Suwon district court adjudicated that Lee serve 12 years in prison, and other prosecuted defendant were adjudicated for 4 to 7 years in prison. And the prosecutions are imminent to prosecute other RO members. Lee's attorney said that they will appeal the adjudication.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group
The RO, organized in August 2003 (the NIS's estimation) after the leader Lee Seok-ki was released from prison, can be described as an updated version of the People's Democratic Revolutionary Party(PDRP), a former underground insurgent organization. The RO, like the PDRP, has a goal of destroying free democratic system of South Korea with more reinforced leadership and security system than its predecessor. The RO has a centralized leadership structure where all the members protect and follow orders from one strong leader, Lee Seok-ki.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group
They observe very strict security rules of their own to hide their existence: They used encrypting software when sending e-mails ; Clone Phones of stolen identities are used in communication among members; and especially they used "Stenography", a technique of hiding messages in a picture or a text file, typically used by North Korean spies. During 2003-2013 the RO members reportedly infiltrated political parties and NGOs in South Korea and pursued a communist revolution in the country.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Organizational structure
The RO was reported to have been organized in 2003 under the guidance of Lee Seok-ki with about 130 persons, most of whom had been the member of the South Kyunggi Committee of the People's Democratic Revolutionary Party(PDRP), the illegal pro-North Korean organization.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Organizational structure
The organizational structure of the RO, provided by the National Intelligence Service, is as follows. Under Lee Seok-ki, the person in charge, the RO has "the Central Committee" which consists of four regional and two sectional divisions. The four regional divisions are the East Kyunggi, the South Kyunggi, the Central West Kyunggi, and the North Kyunggi, where "Kyunggi" is the name of a province that forms a big metropolitan area around Seoul city.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Organizational structure
the East Kyunggi is led by Jo Yang-won (the representative of Social Trend Institute) as a senior cell leader, and Kim Keun-rae (a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP) as a junior cell leader. Lee Sang-ho (an adviser of Kyunggi Alliance for Progressive Movement), as a senior cell leader, is in charge of the South Kyunggi. The Central West Kyunggi is controlled by Hong Soon-seok (a Kyunggi provincial vice chairman of the UPP) as a senior cell leader, and Han Dong-geun (a former Suwon city chairman of the UPP) as a junior cell leader.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Organizational structure
The North Kyunggi is under the charge of Kim Hong-ryul (the Kyunggi provincial chairman of the UPP) as a senior cell leader, and Lee Young-chun(a Kyunggi-Paju branch manager of Korean Confederation of Trade Union) as a junior cell leader. The two sectional divisions are the Central Team led by Woo Wi-young (an ex-spokesman of the UPP) and the Youth Team managed by Park Min-jung(a former youth chairman of the UPP).


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Organizational structure
Evidence showed several public servants are included among 130 RO members. Those public servants also participated in the secret meeting of the RO. They were known to work at the community centers or county offices in Kyunggi Province, where most members of the East Kyunggi Coalition of the UPP have residence.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Affiliation and conforming process
The procedure for affiliation with the RO is made up of three stages, which are "education meeting", "ideology circle", and "acquisition of membership". In the "education meeting" level, the RO candidates learn the basic communist ideology with text books like "the Rewritten Modern History of Korea", in order to become "Juche"(the North Korean philosophy of communism) activists.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, Affiliation and conforming process
Those who showed eagerness to learn and finished the first stage move up to the second level of "ideology circle," where they get intensified ideological education with the original North Korean textbooks such as "About Juche ideology," "The Juche revolutionary view on organizations," "Memoirs of Kim Il-sung," and "The collection of Kim Il-sung's writings." At the final stage, candidates formally become members of the RO through the procedures like writing and evaluating resumes, statement of resolution, and recommendation letters. In the initiation ceremony, usually held in an isolated place near seashore or mountain, when the question is asked "Who is our boss? ", candidates have to answer "Secretary Kim Jung-il," the former leader of North Korea who died in November 2011.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, History of RO
The origin of the RO is closely related to the People's Democratic Revolutionary Party(PDRP), the underground insurgent organization founded back in the 1990s. In 1998 the National Intelligence Service of South Korea found the connection between North Korean spies and the PDRP through analyses on the evidences like North Korean spies' note books secured from wrecked North Korean semi-submarine boat. The core figure of the PDRP was Kim Young-hwan who wrote the book "Iron Letters" widely known as a textbook of "Juche", the North Korean communist ideology, in the 1980s.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, History of RO
In 1989 Kim Young-hwan secretly visited North Korea, joined the communist Workers' Party of Korea, and met Kim Il-song, the leader of North Korea at the time. After that he organized the PDRP with comrades like Ha Young-wook, his alumnus of Seoul University law major. In 1999 Kim Young-hwan was imprisoned for violation of National Security Act, but soon walked out of jail with indictment postponed, after having written a pledge for "ideology change."


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, History of RO
Lee Seok-ki also played an important role in the foundation of PDRP as by participating in the inaugural ceremony and actively supporting the party's doctrine "Let's win the people's independence under the ideological guidance of 'Juche', the North Korean communism." In 2002 Lee Seok-ki was involved in the espionage case centered on the PDRP, and in 2003 he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for violating the National Security Act. But on August 15, 2003, he was granted a special pardon for the Independence Day commemoration and released on parole.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, RO (Revolutionary Organization), the insurgent group, History of RO
The National Intelligence Service believes that the PDRP's doctrines and the goal of communist revolution survived in the RO even though the PDRP itself had been broken up. The ground for the belief is that the RO's four regional divisions of Kyunggi came from "the Committee of South Kyunggi" which was one of the branches of PDRP, and that Lee Seok-ki, the RO's leader, was found to have served as the chief of the committee. The NIS estimates that the RO was organized in late 2003 when Lee Seok-ki was released from prison by the special pardon.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Suspected destruction of evidence
On August 28, 2013, the NIS agents raided Lee Seok-ki's office with the warrant at 8:10 am, but faced resistance of Lee's aides and succeeded to enter the office only after 20 minutes of struggle. Inside the office, Lee Seok-ki's fellow lawmakers including Kim Mi-hee blocked the door of another Lee's office room until 3:00 pm.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Suspected destruction of evidence
On August 28, 2013, Lee Seok-ki allegedly took a taxi and ran away in disguise when he found the investigators searching and seizing his place, according to the report of Channel A, a South Korean TV network. On the next day Lee explained he stayed in Seoul. Owing to his running away the execution of the search warrant on his body had to be delayed until the next day.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Resisting arrest
On September 2 at 10:30 a.m., at one of the National Assembly's meeting rooms, Kim Jae-yeon and Kim Mi-hee, fellow lawmakers of Lee Seok-ki from Unified Progressive Party(UPP), confronted with the passage of the arrest motion for Lee, appealed to lawmakers from the Democratic Party to help Lee. They distributed "the statement of appeal" saying that Lee is innocent of insurgency plot and the NIS investigation is merely McCarthyism and a witch hunt. And about 200 members of the UPP's regional committee crowded in front of the National Assembly's building and collided with security guards there shouting "Stop approving the arrest motion for Lee."


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Resisting arrest
On September 4, 2013, members of the UPP fiercely protested and collided with the NIS investigators executing the arrest warrant for Lee Seok-ki. The NIS, for the execution of the warrant, sent about 60 investigators to Lee's office in the National Assembly's hall, but they were blocked by the UPP members' violence. About 30 people from UPP cursed, pushed, and even beat the NIS investigators.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Denying charges and changing statements
On August 31, 2013, the Unified Progressive Party(UPP) held a demonstration in protest of NIS's investigation of Lee Seok-ki and other members of the party on charge of insurgency plot, in front of NIS building in Seocho-Gu, Seoul. In the protest, titled as "a rally against NIS's fabrication of charges and repression", the UPP lawmakers Lee Seok-ki, Lee Jung-hee, and Oh Byung-yoon participated and about 1,500 people(calculation by police) rallied. "This case is a complete set-up. The NIS must stop spreading false information and reveal the video recordings of the plot meeting, if they have any" the UPP chairwoman Lee Jung-hee said in the rally.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Denying charges and changing statements
The UPP lawmakers' continuous changing of their previous comments aroused controversies. At first, Lee Seok-ki said "I have never mentioned firearms" denying all the suspicions. But he changed his initial statement and said "It is just a piece of transcript edited with a few keywords," soon after the recording of secret meeting was released. He was found to have said "Even a gun can be more valuable than tens of thousands of nuclear weapons," at the meeting. Lee Seok-ki even denied holding the May 12 secret meeting by saying, "All the charges were fabricated."


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Denying charges and changing statements
But after the detailed transcript of the meeting was open to public, the UPP spokesman Hong Sung-gyu explained, "The meeting was held by Kyunggi regional branch of the UPP, where Lee Seok-ki was invited to make lectures on current political issues," virtually accepting the secret meeting was held. The UPP lawmaker Kim Jae-yeonn also changedher comments from "There was no such meeting in May" to "I participated in the meeting".


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Denying charges and changing statements
On September 4, 2013, the UPP Chairwoman Lee Jung-hee convened a press conference and told reporters that everything Lee Seok-ki and RO members said at the May 12 meeting was a "joke." "Among the 130 attendees, only one or two of them mentioned weapons or destroying facilities, but it was a kind of a joke, and although some said things like that, the others just laughed," the chairwoman said. Her comments conflicted with previous ones. When the prosecution first revealed the insurrection allegation, She and other UPP members said they were "fabricated" and even denied that the May 12 meeting took place.


2013 South Korean sabotage plot, United Progress Party's resistance, Denying charges and changing statements
On September 4, 2013, just before the passage of arrest motion for Lee Seok-ki in the National Assembly, Lee was given a chance to make a final explanation and claimed, "In a report of the New York Times, they compared the NIS investigation to the past regime's political repression on dissidents in the 1970s, "Yushin" era." But his comments turned out to be false. The corresponding report of NYT merely quoted the UPP's comments. Lee Seok-ki deceived people by saying as if the comparison were the NYT's own opinion. The original text of NYT report on August 28, 2013, is as follows ; On Wednesday, the Unified Progressive Party said that the raid was reminiscent of the Yushin, or "revitalization," era, when Ms. Park's father, Park Chung-hee ruled the country with an iron fist.


2013 South Seas Island Resort Women's Pro Classic
The 2013 South Seas Island Resort Women's Pro Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the first edition of the tournament which was part of the 2013 ITF Women's Circuit, offering a total of $50,000 in prize money. It took place in Captiva Island, United States, on November 4–10, 2013.


2013 South Seas Island Resort Women's Pro Classic, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2013 South Seas Island Resort Women's Pro Classic – Doubles
Gabriela Dabrowski and Allie Will won the title with a 6–1, 6–2 win over Julia Boserup and Alexandra Mueller.


2013 South Seas Island Resort Women's Pro Classic – Singles
Mandy Minella won the tournament, defeating Gabriela Dabrowski in the final, 6–3, 6–3.


2013 South Shields by-election
The South Shields by-election was a by-election held for the United Kingdom House of Commons constituency of South Shields. It was triggered by the resignation of David Miliband, the previous Member of Parliament (MP) and former Foreign Secretary, who had held the seat for Labour since 2001. The by-election took place on 2 May 2013, coinciding with local elections across England.


2013 South Shields by-election
The by-election was won by Emma Lewell-Buck of the Labour Party with 50.4% of the vote. The UK Independence Party (UKIP) came second with 24.2%, with the  Conservatives dropping to third with 11.5%. The Liberal Democrats' candidate came seventh with just 1.4%, the Liberals' or Liberal Democrats' lowest share of the vote at a by-election since 1948.


2013 South Shields by-election, Resignation of David Miliband
The seat became vacant after David Miliband, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and former Foreign Secretary, announced on 27 March 2013 that he intended to resign from Parliament, in order to take up a position as head of the International Rescue Committee in New York City. In an interview with the BBC, he also explained that he "feared" his continued involvement in British politics was a "distraction" to his brother Ed's leadership of the Labour Party. Miliband's resignation was formally announced on 15 April.


2013 South Shields by-election, Date
The date for the by-election was scheduled for 2 May 2013 to coincide with local elections across England, although none of those local elections were for councils or positions in South Shields - the nearest elections being for the county councils of Durham and Northumberland, and for the directly elected mayor of North Tyneside.


2013 South Shields by-election, Candidates and campaign
The Labour Party selected South Tyneside councillor Emma Lewell-Buck as its candidate on 10 April 2013. Mark Walsh, a fellow councillor, had been considered the favourite to be selected, but withdrew for "personal reasons" hours before the vote.


2013 South Shields by-election, Candidates and campaign
The Conservative Party selected the previous 2010 candidate Karen Allen to once again stand for the party on 11 April 2013.


2013 South Shields by-election, Candidates and campaign
The Liberal Democrats chose Hugh Annand as their candidate on 11 April 2013. Annand had previously stood in North East Hertfordshire and has also been chosen as the seventh candidate on their East of England party-list for the 2014 European elections.


2013 South Shields by-election, Candidates and campaign
The UK Independence Party announced on 7 April 2013 that Richard Elvin would be their candidate. Elvin finished second in the 2012 Middlesbrough by-election with 12% of the vote.


2013 South Shields by-election, Candidates and campaign
Alan "Howling Laud" Hope, the leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and perennial by-election candidate, stood as the party's candidate.


2013 South Shields by-election, Candidates and campaign
Comedian Simon Brodkin, in character as Lee Nelson, was duly nominated as a candidate for 'Lee Nelson’s Well Good Party', but then withdrew his nomination.


2013 South Sulawesi gubernatorial election
An election was held on 22 January 2013 for the post of Governor of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. The incumbent governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo of the Golkar party was re-elected with 52% of the vote. The principal opponent was Ilham Arief Sirajuddin of the Democratic Party, who obtained 42% of the vote.


2013 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
The 2013 South Sydney Rabbitohs season was the 104th in the club's history. Coached by Michael Maguire and captained by John Sutton, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2013 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in second place.


2013 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Pre-season
In 2013, the Rabbitohs again competed in three pre-season trial matches.


2013 South Valley homicides
A mass shooting on January 19, 2013, in South Valley, New Mexico, resulted in the deaths of five family members of the Griego family: the parents and three younger children. They were shot with two different weapons. The 15-year-old eldest son of the family, Nehemiah Griego, was arrested and charged with the shootings.


2013 South Valley homicides
In October 2015, Nehemiah Griego pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death. As he was a minor at the time of the crimes, a family court judge proposed to sentence him accordingly. This was appealed by the prosecutor and overturned by the appeals court in 2019. Griego was sentenced as an adult.


2013 South Valley homicides, Events
According to police, the suspect Nehemiah Griego, 15 years old, shot and killed his parents and three siblings at their house in South Valley, New Mexico, near Albuquerque. First he shot his mother around midnight, with a .22 rifle. He said his younger brother Zephaniah woke up, and Griego told him he had shot their mother. He next shot Zephaniah with the same rifle. He went into the bedroom shared by his two younger sisters, who were crying, and fatally shot them each in the head.


2013 South Valley homicides, Events
Griego went downstairs to wait for his father to return home from his shift at a homeless shelter. When the father returned about 5 a.m., Griego shot him multiple times with an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle with a scope. The youth drove to church, with two rifles in the van. He told his girlfriend that his family was killed in an accident. The pastor received news that something was wrong with his father. When the pastor asked Griego about his father, Griego stated that his family was dead. The pastor and another member of the congregation, a retired homicide detective, decided to drive Griego back to house, but on the way the retired detective felt something was wrong and called 911.


2013 South Valley homicides, Events
Afterward Griego changed his account of the events and made a statement to police, saying that he had been having suicidal and homicidal thoughts. He said he had obtained the guns from his parents' closet, that his father had bought them and taught both him and his mother to use them. He e-mailed a photo of his dead mother to his girlfriend. His intention had been to drive away, murder more people, and die in a gun battle with police.


2013 South Valley homicides, Events
At age 15, Griego was classified as a minor at the time of the crime. Under New Mexico law, minors charged with first-degree murder are to be tried as adults. However, persons who are minors when a crime is committed cannot be sentenced to death or life-without-parole.


2013 South Valley homicides, Victims
The five victims were Greg Griego and his wife Sarah, and their three younger children, a son and two daughters. The father, 51-year-old Greg Griego, was a former pastor at the area's Calvary Church. He served as a chaplain to the Albuquerque Fire Department.


2013 South Valley homicides, Victims
He and his wife, 40-year-old Sarah Griego, were both active in prison ministry. They were the parents of the alleged shooter, Nehemiah Griego, and nine other children, several older than the shooter. The murdered children, nine-year-old Zephaniah, five-year-old Jael, and two-year-old Angelina, were Nehemiah's younger siblings living at home. New Mexico politician Eric Griego is a brother of the late Greg Griego.


2013 South Valley homicides, Perpetrator
The perpetrator is 15-year-old Nehemiah Griego. He was booked into Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center and was charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.


2013 South Valley homicides, Perpetrator
He agreed to speak to police without an adult or lawyer present. Griego told the police investigators "that he was angry at his mother and had suicidal thoughts". He initially pleaded not guilty due to insanity.


2013 South Valley homicides, Legal proceedings
By January 2015, the case was at a standstill due to several complications. Mental health evaluations of Griego were underway.


2013 South Valley homicides, Legal proceedings
In October 2015, Griego pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death. The Sheriff's office had said that Griego had been planning the killings for days. He had been held at the Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center for the previous 18 months before his plea. There would be hearings by the court as to the suitability of Griego to treatment as a juvenile. Extended family members supported the idea of an amenability hearing to determine whether the youth could be treated, and did not want to see the case go to trial.


2013 South Valley homicides, Legal proceedings
On February 11, 2016, Judge John J. Romero of the New Mexico Children's Court determined that, based on mental health evaluations, Griego is "amenable to treatment" and would be sentenced as a  juvenile. This would mean that Griego, then 18, would likely be released from a youth detention facility when he turns 21. Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg announced that she would be appealing the ruling.


2013 South Valley homicides, Legal proceedings
In August 2019, Judge Alisa Hart filed a 75-page order in 2nd Judicial District Court that reversed the order of the lower court to have Griego be sentenced in juvenile court. She found that, at age 22, he was "not amenable to treatment or rehabilitation in available facilities" and believed that he should not be treated in an unlocked facility. She said he is to be sentenced as an adult. He faced a sentence of up to 120 years in prison because of the multiple victims.


2013 South Valley homicides, Legal proceedings
His public defender said that it was also possible for him to receive a lesser sentence and continued treatment for his issues. These were confidential because he was a minor when he committed the crimes. Greigo was ultimately sentenced to three concurrent life sentences plus seven years to run consecutively with the life sentences with credit given for the 2,476 days – six years and 285 days already served and in all must serve 30 years before being eligible for parole. Griego is currently imprisoned in the Lea County Correctional Center.


2013 Southeast Asian Games
The 2013 Southeast Asian Games (Burmese: ၂၀၁၃ ခုနှစ် အရှေ့တောင် အာရှ အားကစား ပြိုင်ပွဲ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event took place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Around 4730 athletes from 11 participating nations competed at the games, which featured 460 events in 34 sports. The games were held from 11 to 22 December 2013.


2013 Southeast Asian Games
It was the third time for Myanmar in hosting the Southeast Asian Games. The country hosted the Games in 1961 and 1969 respectively in Yangon, then capital of the country. Singapore withdrew its hosting rights due to expected delays in the completion of its new national stadium, it eventually hosted in 2015. Nay Pyi Taw became the second city in Myanmar to host the Southeast Asian Games. The games were opened and closed by Nyan Tun, the Vice-president of Myanmar at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium.


2013 Southeast Asian Games
The final medal tally was led by Thailand, followed by host Myanmar and Vietnam. Several Games and national records were broken during the games. Though there were several controversies, the Games were generally deemed successful with the rising standard of competition amongst the Southeast Asian nations.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Organisation, Host city
Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand revealed their intentions to host the 2013 edition. However, since the latter three nations hosted the 2003, 2005 and 2007 editions, respectively, these countries were less favored to host this edition.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Organisation, Host city
Myanmar held the longest interval between hosting the games, spanning a time of 44 years. The Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF) Council met in Jakarta on 31 May 2010 unanimously agreed to award the Myanmar Olympic Committee the right to host the 27th edition of the games. The official website of the Olympic Council of Asia also approved the fact that Myanmar would host the 27th Southeast Asian Games in its news launched on 7 June 2010. ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)'s official website also announced that Myanmar would host the games.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Organisation, Development and preparation
The Myanmar SEA Games Organising Committee (MYASOC) was formed to oversee the staging of the event.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Organisation, Public transport
As Naypyidaw was yet to be fully developed into a city, only shuttle bus services were provided throughout the games and were used to ferry athletes and officials to and from the airport, games venues and games village. The co-host cities of the games, Yangon, Mandalay and Ngwesaung also provided the same services during the games.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Organisation, Countdown
The official countdown to the games' opening ceremony began a year prior on 11 December 2012. The countdown clocks were located in Nay Pyi Taw and other cities in Myanmar that co-hosted the games.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Organisation, Torch relay
The torch relay of the games began at Yangon's Thuwunna Indoor Stadium and ended in Nay Pyi Taw during the opening ceremony, covering a distance of 320 kilometres.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Marketing, Logo
The logo of the 2013 Southeast Asian Games is an image of the map of Myanmar. The Southeast Asian Games Federation logo at the tip of the logo, has eleven rings which resembling the 11 Southeast Asian countries and the Southeast Asian Games Federation. Yellow, green and red, the national colours on Myanmar's National Flag, represents Myanmar as the games' host nation. The yellow circle represents equality and fraternity, green color represents love of nature and the green economy, while the red color represents courage and hard working nature of Myanmar. The circular shape represents complete perfection and endless prosperity among the Southeast Asian countries.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Marketing, Mascot
The official mascot of the 2013 Southeast Asian Games is a couple of owls named Shwe Yoe and Ma Moe. The owls are considered lucky charms in Burmese tradition. The owl is globally taken to be the wisest, calmest and balanced animal. But, in Myanmar, it is also taken to be auspicious and believed to bring forth luck and prosperity to the family, for which the owl dolls are kept at their homes as lucky charms. The owl as the official mascot of Myanmar SEA Games 2013 has a personality: wise, calm, lucky, loyal, and friendly. The personality of an owl was intended to bring forth co-operation, friendship, and better understanding among the participating countries. The mascots are named after a famous Burmese dance, U Shwe Yoe and Daw Moe.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Marketing, Songs
Several songs, including the theme of the games "Colourful Garden", were written by Lin Htet for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was held on 11 December 2013 at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium. It marked the nation's biggest sporting event since 1969. It was led with pre-launch entertainment and a series of screens beamed a dramatic lights show during the Chinese-backed extravaganza.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
The ceremony began with fireworks displays at the stadium. The theme song "Colourful Garden" was performed during the flag-raising ceremony after performances made by 12,000 school children and the Myanmar Royal Auspicious Orchestra. Chairman of the 27th SEA Games Organising Committee, Vice-President Nyan Tun opened the Games with another explosion of colourful fireworks. The Games' torch was relayed by six former Burmese athletes before Aye Myint Kyu, the Union Minister for Culture, handed it to a Burmese archer where he lit up the Games cauldron by shooting an arrow into it.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Opening ceremony
A showcase of arts and culture about Burmese history was made, with dance performances accompanied the ending of the ceremony.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony was held at Wunna Theikdi Stadium on 22 December 2013. It was started with an hour of music following the performance of "Colorful Garden", the theme song for the Games and subsequently, "Loyalty of Blood" was later presented by well-known artists May Sweet and Maykhala. The musical hors d'oeuvres concluded with all artists joining together in "Be Peaceful". President Thein Sein and his wife Khin Khin Win then entered the stadium, following which the Closing Ceremony was officially opened with pyrotechnic displays.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
Four performances were presented with the first directly connected the SEA Games to Burmese tradition, celebrating the sport of chinlone, which is believed to have first appeared in Myanmar in the 5th century. It then followed with the "Elephant Dance" which about paying tribute to the elephants in Myanmar.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
The Closing Ceremony then paid homage to the 135 officially recognised ethnic races diversity of the country with the performance of "Everlasting Myanmar", depicting the rich diversity of the population, and simultaneously the many obstacles on the path to realising a new, peaceful and prosperous modern state.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
Medal winners of every participating countries were then paraded onto the stadium floor to the beat of martial music – chants of "Myanmar" ringing through the stadium.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
With the procession complete, President Thein Sein officially announced the 27th SEA Games concluded, as strobe lights searched the sky and a cornucopia of fireworks exploded over the stadium.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Closing ceremony
After Myanmar handed over the SEA Games responsibilities to Singapore, host of the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, the Games ended with one last round of fireworks and round of musical performances.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Sports
Myanmar hosted 34 sports, fewer than the number of sport in 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia. Organisers did not nominate the sports of beach volleyball and dance sports, because they considered those uniforms unsuitable for Burmese women. Tennis and Gymnastics, two Olympic sports, were not played in December. In this edition of the Games, floorball was also contested as a demonstration sport. The following sports below were calendared for the 2013 Southeast Asian Games.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Sports
¹ – not an official Olympic Sport. ² – sport played only in the SEAG. ³ – not a traditional Olympic nor SEAG Sport and introduced only by the host country. ° – a former official Olympic Sport, not applied in previous host countries and was introduced only by the host country. ʰ- sport not played in the previous edition and was reintroduced by the host country.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, The games, Medal table
In September 2014, Myanmar gold medalists Saw Marla Nwe (athletics) and Min Zaw Oo (bodybuilding), along with Indonesian gold and silver medalist Indra Gunawan (swimming), tested positive for a banned drug and were stripped of their medals.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Broadcasting
International Broadcast Center was constructed in Maniyadana Jade Hall in Naypyidaw.


2013 Southeast Asian Games, Concerns and controversies
Following the shocking defeat of Myanmar football team to Indonesia in the group match that causing them failed to qualify the semi-finals, Myanmar hooligan supporters tore up seats, hurled stones at officers as well burning Southeast Asian Games memorabilia and other billboards.


2013 Southeast Asian floods
The 2013 monsoon season (August 2013 – December 2013) saw large-scale flooding return to Indochina after a calmer 2012 monsoon season. Poverty stricken Cambodia was hardest hit, with some 83 deaths. Countries affected also include Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. Philippines has seen the annual typhoon related occurrences, which often pummel into Indochina.


2013 Southeast Asian floods, Background
Flooding and/or related typhoon damage is an annual occurrence in all of Southeast Asia. However, deforestation, land subsidence, poor drainage, have exacerbated existing problems, while development of infrastructure such as dams, drainage, and pumps have lessened it elsewhere. Despite a long history of devastation and little spread of news outside the region, more global attention has been paid to Southeast Asian flooding as it has become a manufacturing hub in the global supply chain and major tourist destination.


2013 Southeast Asian floods, Cambodia
83 people, half of them children were killed and Preah Khan temple of Angkor Wat complex sustained damage. Death toll updated to 104 Oct.9


2013 Southeast Asian floods, Thailand
Severe flooding occurred in Eastern Thailand, especially in the provinces of Sa Kaeo, Prachin Buri, Chon Buri. Floods unrelated to the monsoon occurred in Phuket. Despite government assurances after the 2011 disaster, flooding has shutdown two factories at an Amata estate. As of Oct 9th, 28 out of 77 Thai provinces had been affected and 39 people had been killed, but the health ministry put the death toll at 51, with more than 3 million people affected since July.


2013 Southeast Asian floods, Myanmar
As of 22 September 2013, the floods had made some 300,000 people homeless.


2013 Southeast Asian floods, Vietnam
Typhoon Wutip killed 40 in Vietnam and removed 200,000 roofs.


2013 Southeast Asian haze
The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was a haze crisis that affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand, mainly during June and July 2013. The haze period was caused by large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that the haze was mainly due to smoke from fires burning in Riau province, Indonesia.


2013 Southeast Asian haze
The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was notable for causing record high levels of pollution in Singapore and several parts of Malaysia. The 3-hour Pollution Standards Index in Singapore reached a record high of 401 on 21 June 2013, surpassing the previous record of 226 set during the 1997 Southeast Asian Haze.


2013 Southeast Asian haze
On 23 June, the Air Pollution Index (API) in Muar, Johor spiked to 746 at 7 a.m. which was almost 2.5 times above the minimum range of the Hazardous level thus resulting in the declaration of emergency in Muar and Ledang (which was afterwards lifted on 25 June in the morning), leaving the towns in virtual shutdown.


2013 Southeast Asian haze, Chronology of events
On 19 June 2013, NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured images of smoke from illegal wildfires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra blowing east toward southern Malaysia and Singapore, causing thick clouds of haze in the region. As stated by a local Indonesian official, the source of the haze might be a 3,000 hectare peatland in Bengkalis Regency, Riau Province, which was set ablaze by an unknown party on 9 June. As many as 187 hotspots were picked up by satellites on 18 June, down to 85 on 20 June.


2013 Southeast Asian haze, Chronology of events
On 21 June 2013, a total of 437 hotspots were detected in Sumatra. Two days later, the number was down to 119. On 24 June 159 hotspots were detected in Riau, out of a total of 227 detected in Sumatra. An air force officer explained that the low number of hotspots detected on some days was due to heavy cloud cover, which prevented the satellite from detecting some of the hotspots.


2013 Southeast Asian haze, Chronology of events
The Malaysia Department of Environment said that 173 hotspots were detected in Malaysia on 24 June, with 1 in Negeri Sembilan, 1 in Terengganu, 3 in Sabah, and 168 in Sarawak. Many of the hotspots were owned by palm oil companies or smallholder farmers who supply palm oil to these companies and use slash-and-burn methods to clear their land for the next planting season. However, Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said that the fires were most likely started by errant companies, instead of slash-and-burn by smallholders. On 25 June, Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a formal apology to Malaysia and Singapore for the hazardous smog.