Embassyline

Czech Ambassador to Korea Jaroslav Olsa, fourth from right, joins guests outside the Czech Center Seoul to cut a ribbon to celebrate the official opening of the center in Seoul, April 29. The center will have exhibitions and screen films on a regular basis. It also has books and information on the Czech Republic. / Courtesy of Czech Embassy

Freedom Day: South African Ambassador to Korea Hilton Dennis, right, and Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn toast on the occasion of South Africa’s Freedom Day during a reception held at the ambassador’s residence in Seoul, April 27. Freedom Day celebrates the first democratic election ending a racial segregation policy called apartheid. / Courtesy of South African Embassy

Dutch Queen's Day: Dutch Ambassador to Korea Paul Menkveld speaks during a reception celebrating Queen’s Day on April 30 at his residence in Seoul. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the oldest reigning monarch in the European country, abdicated the throne in favor of her son Crown-Prince Willem Alexander that day. / Courtesy of Dutch Embassy

Commemorating Bethell: British Deputy Head of Mission Andrew Dalgleish approaches an altar commemorating Ernest Thomas Bethell, a British national who launched an English newspaper in Korea in the early 20th century, during a memorial service at the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Seoul, May 1. Bethell arrived in 1904, and launched the Korea Daily News, the English version of the Korean daily, Daehan Maeil Shinbo. Benefiting from extraterritorial rights, he published critical articles about the harsh Japanese colonial rule of Koreans, which put him under close surveillance by the Japanese. He was tried by the British Consular Court in Seoul in 1907 and the British Supreme Court for China and Japan in 1908, and died in 1909. / Courtesy of British Embassy

International Jazz Day: A Jazz band performs outside the UNESCO Korea headquarters in Myeong-dong, Seoul, April 30, to celebrate International Jazz Day proclaimed by the UNESCO headquarters in Paris two years ago. The UNESCO Korea appointed jazz singer Nah Yoon-sun as ambassador, who held a concert later in the day. It seeks to hold the International Jazz Day global concert in Seoul next year. Istanbul in Turkey was the host for this year’s global concert. / Courtesy of Korean National Commission for UNESCO