Structural and optical properties of as-synthesized, Ga$_2$O$_3$-coated, and Al$_2$O$_3$-coated GaN nanowires are examined in this paper. GaN nanowires were synthesized by thermal evaporation of ball-milled GaN powders in an NH$_3$ atmosphere. The thermal annealing of the as-synthesized GaN nanowires in an argon atmosphere allows their surfaces to be oxidized, leading to the formation of 2nm-thick Ga$_2$O$_3$ layers. For the oxidized GaN nanowires, the distances between the neighboring lattice planes are shortened, and an excitonic emission band is remarkably enhanced in intensity, compared with the as-synthesized GaN nanowires. In addition, the as-synthesized GaN nanowires were coated cylindrically with Al$_2$O$_3$ by atomic layer deposition technique. Our study suggests that the Al$_2$O$_3$-coating passivates some of surface states in the GaN nanowires.