The World Taekwondo Federation has set September fourth as the official day to celebrate the Korean martial art of taekwondo.

Taekwondo was approved as a formal Olympic event for the first time by the International Olympic Committee Congress on the same day in 1994.

At the WTF general assembly in Vietnam Tuesday, the federation also accepted a West Pacific island country, Kiribati, and Zambia in Africa as new members. The Isle of Man, a British dependency, was also granted an associate member status. The additions bring the membership total up to one-hundred-82.

The meeting also chose Manchester, Britain as the venue for the September preliminaries leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Taekwondo has grown into a global sport since the federation's launch in 1973. The IOC recognized the organization in 1980 and taekwondo officially debuted at the 2004 Athens Olympics.