By using 92 values of lateral earth pressure coefficient(K) measured in Korea, the tendency of K with varying depth is analyzed and compared with the range of K defined by Hoek and Brown. The horizontal stress is generally larger than the vertical stress in Korea : About 84 % of K values are above 1. In this study, the theory of elasto-plasticity is applied to analyze the variation of K values, and the results are compared with those of numerical analysis. This reveals that the erosion, sedimentation and weathering of earth crust are important factors in the determination of K values. Surface erosion, large lateral pressure and good rock mass increase the K values, but sedimentation decreases the K values. This study enable us to analyze the effects of geological processes on the K values, especially at shallow depth where underground excavation takes place. A neural network expert system using multi-layer back-propagation algorithm is developed to predict the K values. The neural network model has a correlation coefficient above 0.996 when it is compared with measured data. The comparison with 9 measured data which are not included in the back-propagation learning has shown an average inference error of 20% and the correlation coefficient above 0.95. The expert system developed in this study can be used for reliable determination of K values.