SECON 2013 was sponsored by three South Korean ministries--the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, and one local government—Gyeonggi Province.

It was co-organised with various security media including Securityworld Magazine and Boannews Daily and security associations in South Korea including Korea Defense Industry Trade Support Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, the Korean Association for Industrial Technology Security, Intelligent Transport System of Korea, Knowledge Information Security Industry Association, Korea Association of Chief Security Officer, Korea Digital CCTV Research Association, Korea Safety Security Association of Technology Education, Korean Institute of Security, ASIS International (Seoul Branch), Korea Corporate Security Manager's Council, Korea CCTV Industry Association, and Korean Police Studies Association.

Exhibitors at SECON 2013 presented their latest technological innovations in video surveillance, access control, biometric recognition, alarm monitoring as well as homeland security, risk management, intelligent transportation and IT security. SECON 2013 brought manufacturers, dealers & installers, system integrators, and corporate end-users of security products and services from across the globe together to learn, evaluate, and competitively source in a highly productive environment.

Among the total visitors of 32,000, 14.3% were from the central government/local governments and government agencies/public organisations. 16.7% of the visitors were CSOs, CISOs, CPOs. 16.4% of the visitors were IT, computing and network managers. IT, computing and network managers, in effect the ones who take care of security when their companies has no security managers. Among the total visitors, 7.7% were CEOs. This shows that CEOs, are paying keen and growing attention to security. Important to note is the figure for purchasing managers at 4.6% who would make actual purchasing decisions on security equipment and solutions, who also showed up on the exhibition floor, which means they would no longer depend on written proposals submitted by a few security companies, but would personally evaluate and compare security products and solutions before making any purchases.

33% of the visitors to SECON 2013 showed interest in CCTV and IP surveillance and 31% were interested in network security and information protection, 14% showed great interests in access control , as well as 7% in biometric recognition. Visitors’ interest has expanded and spans the whole industry segments from security to safety.

Examining the purpose of visitors to the show, it has revealed 35% or 11,138 people visited SECON 2013 to search and purchase security products. 23% or 7,258 travelled to the show for market research while 16% for market development, 10% for seminar participation and 8% for partner search. According to the feedback from the visitors, SECON 2013 has served as a much-needed marketplace for search and purchase of security products in time for the public orderings in the first half of 2013.

With participation by diverse security players from key Asian countries and its location based in South Korea famous for high-tech innovation, skilled workforce and business-friendly infrastructure, SECON was yet again recognised as a preferred destination for security companies looking to increase their presence and expand their business in Asia.

Next year’s SECON will be held from March 12-14, 2014, at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX), South Korea.