BUSINESSWEEK FEATURES AN ARTICLE ON NARA BANCORP

NARA BANCORP, INC. (Nasdaq: NARA), the holding company of Nara Bank, N.A. (the Bank"), today announced that it was featured in BusinessWeek in the February 17th issue titled, For Korean Banks, Truly a Golden State."

LOS ANGELES, CA, February 10, 2003: NARA BANCORP, INC. (Nasdaq: NARA), the holding company of Nara Bank, N.A. (the Bank"), today announced that it was featured in BusinessWeek in the February 17th issue titled, For Korean Banks, Truly a Golden State."

The article begins with the recollection of the 1992 Los Angeles riots when Benjamin Hong, president & CEO of Nara Bank, took decisive action to offer existing customers loans of up to $100,000 without asking for collateral. Such community support has turned Korean-American banks into some of the fastest growing and profitable financial institutions in the nation," article state.

They are a real American success story," says Alberto G. Alvarado, district director of the Small Business Administration, Los Angeles office.

The article highlights, while the banks performance has been impressive, investors havent taken full advantage," revealing that five Korean banks trading on Nasdaq earned an annualized 18% on equity through third quarter of last year compared to 13% by similarly sized banks nationwide while trading at just 10.2 times estimated 2003 earnings compared to 11.6 for their peers. The chart in the article shows Nara Banks asset growth since 1999 at 132% (which is 41% higher than the average of the other four banks). The article questions, Is Hongs Nara Bank undervalued?"

With their growth rates and the strength of their portfolios, they should trade at a premium to other bank stocks," says Scott W. Hood, a money manager at First Wilshire Securities Management in Pasadena, California.

The article further state, The [Korean American] immigrant population climbed 35% in the 1990s, triple the rate for the population as a whole..." and that they were, the most entrepreneurial of U.S. ethnic groups, with one business for every eight people. And more than half of their businesses have accounts at Korean-American banks." International ties are another plus for Nara Bank as Benjamin Hong comments, Southern California serves as a satellite economy for South Korea."

The article states that Korean American banks are diversifying by opening branches in New York, Chicago and northern California as well as hiring employees from other ethnic backgrounds to penetrate new markets. The article concludes, After all, immigrants are a market these banks know well."

We are extremely thrilled to be acknowledged by BusinessWeek as one of the leaders in community banking for Korean Americans in the US," says Benjamin Hong. We hope that this type of publicity will increase awareness in the investment community of the stellar performance of Nara Bank and the entrepreneurial spirit and strength of Korean American immigrants who have contributed to the growth of our economy."

As of December 31, 2002, Nara Bancorp, Inc. reported year-end asset size of $980 million, net income of $15.5 million, and diluted EPS of $2.70, all of which were over 44% increase from 2001. The annualized return on average equity was 19.5%.

For full information on the BusinessWeek article, please visit Nara Banks website at www.narabank.com.

About Nara Bank, N.A.
Nara Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nara Bancorp, Inc., was founded in 1988. Nara Bank is a full service community bank headquartered in Los Angeles with eighteen branches and offices nationwide. Nara Bank operates full service branches in California and New York with loan production offices in Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta and New Jersey and a representative office is Seoul, Korea. Nara Bank was founded specifically to serve the needs of Korean-Americans, one of the fastest growing segments of the Asian ethnic group over the past decade. Nara Bank specializes in core business banking products for small and medium-sized companies with emphasis in commercial real estate and business lending, SBA lending and international trade financing. For more information on Nara Bank call California office at 213-639-1700 or New York office at 212-279-2790 or visit our website at www.narabank.com. Nara Bank stock is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol NARA."

Contact Information:
Nara Bank Public Relations         
J. Han Park, 213-427-6322         
hpark@narabank.com            

Benjamin Hong, President & CEO
213-639-1700
bhong@narabank.com

Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements, including, but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors affecting the Bank's operations, markets, products, services and pricing. The Bank undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect the Bank's financial results, described in other documents that the Bank files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2002 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2001, and particularly the discussion of business considerations and certain factors that may affect results of operations and stock price set forth therein. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.