EXHIBIT 99.1

     HANMI BANK NAMES EXPERIENCED BANK EXECUTIVE AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

 -- Michael J. Winiarski Becomes First Non-Korean In Senior Management Position
                        At Major Korean-American Bank --

LOS ANGELES, CA, December 23, 2003 (MARKET WIRE) -- Hanmi Financial Corporation
(NASDAQ: HAFC), and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hanmi Bank, one of the leading
financial institutions serving the multi-ethnic communities of California, with
emphasis on the Korean-American community, today announced the appointment of
Michael J. Winiarski, C.P.A., as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer. Mr. Winiarski is the first non-Korean to be appointed to a senior
management position at a major Korean-American community bank.

Mr. Winiarski served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Home
Equity Lines of Credit Division, for IndyMac Bank, F.S.B., which was a
$7-billion Federal Savings Bank with annual loan production of more than $17
billion. He most recently was President of Imperial Warehouse Finance, Inc., a
$200-million subsidiary of Southern Pacific Bank. Previously he served as Senior
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Warehouse Lending, IndyMac Bank,
where he directly managed a business unit with more than $1 billion in credit
lines and $200 million in principal outstanding.

"This is a very important appointment in our continuing reorganization of Hanmi
Bank to strengthen our Company for future growth. Michael will strengthen our
team by bringing his extensive financial, operating and management experience in
financial services, and his experience as a member of a corporate senior
management team," said Jae Whan Yoo, Chief Executive Officer and President of
Hanmi Bank. "We are very impressed by Michael's career performance, especially
his service as a CFO, where he developed strong strategic and financial plans,
established systems that brought major value to his bank, and recommended cost
control measures in his role of analyzing profitability."

"I am very excited to be joining a bank that is emerging as the leading
Korean-American community bank, and I look forward to contributing to the
continued success of the Bank," said Michael J. Winiarski.

Mr. Winiarski also served as Senior Vice President of the Risk Management
Division for Home Savings of America, F.S.B., and as a manager for Deloitte &
Touche. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from California State University,
Long Beach.

About Hanmi Financial Corporation:
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Hanmi Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hanmi
Financial Corporation provides services to the multi-ethnic communities of
California, with 15 full-service offices in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and
Santa Clara counties. Hanmi Bank specializes in commercial, SBA, trade finance
and consumer lending, and is





a recognized community leader. The Hanmi Bank's mission is to provide varied
quality products and premier services to its customers and to maximize
shareholder value.

Forward-Looking Statements:
This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are included in
accordance with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking
statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects,"
"plans," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts,"
"potential," or "continue," or the negative of such terms and other comparable
terminology. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements. These statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ from those
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement. These factors include the
following: general economic and business conditions in those areas in which the
Company operates; demographic changes; competition for loans and deposits;
fluctuation in interest rates; risks of natural disasters related to the
Company's real estate portfolio; risks associated with SBA loans; changes in
governmental regulation; credit quality; the availability of capital to fund the
expansion of the Company's business; and changes in securities markets. In
addition, Hanmi sets forth certain risks in its reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2003 and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2002 which could cause actual results to differ
from those projected.

Contact:
Stephanie Yoon
Investor Relations
213-427-5631