EXHIBIT 99.1

       HANMI FINANCIAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF JAE WHAN YOO AS
                                CEO & PRESIDENT


LOS ANGELES, CA, Jun. 26, 2003 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- The Board of
Directors of Hanmi Financial Corporation ("Hanmi") (NASDAQ: HAFC) and its
wholly-owned subsidiary Hanmi Bank (collectively referred to as the "Company")
announced today that, effective July 1, 2003, Jae Whan Yoo has been selected as
CEO & President of the Company.

Mr. Yoo started his 27-year banking career at Bank of America in 1976.
Subsequent to Bank of America, Mr. Yoo joined KorAm Bank where he was
Executive Vice President at the time of his departure in 2001. Mr. Yoo is
currently a director at Industrial Bank of Korea.

"The Board has received a large number of applications of qualified individuals
and gone through a rigorous selection process. In the end, we are quite pleased
with the selection of Mr. Yoo as the Company's next CEO & President. We are
confident that Mr. Yoo has the necessary banking expertise, management skills,
experience and understanding of the position and the Company to take the Company
to the next level in the coming years," stated Chang Kyu Park, Chairman.

Mr. Yoo stated, "I am honored to be asked to assume the responsibilities of CEO
& President and will work hard for our customers, shareholders and staff. My
primary focus will be to continue Hanmi's focus on generating growth in assets
and profits."

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
Southern California, with 14 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: difficulty in finding a suitable candidate to serve as permanent
President of Hanmi and Hanmi Bank; 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. Hanmi sets forth certain rights in its reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002.

Yong Ku Choe
213-368-3200