Associated Press OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill to authorize celebration of Korean American Day every Jan. 13, the day Koreans first arrived in Hawaii.

It wouldn't be a legal holiday that would close schools, banks and government offices, but the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs would help coordinate events across the state to celebrate the contributions of the state's third-largest ethnic population, said Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds.

At last count, the state had 46,000 native Koreans and Korean Americans. {2007 numbers}

Shin, who was born in South Korea, said both the U.S. Congress and the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea have given recognition to the day, which commemorates the arrival of Korean immigrants in Honolulu in 1903. Washington is the first state to pass a law creating the "honorary state holiday," Shin said