Lactic acid is an environmentally benign organic acid that could be used as a raw material for biodegradable plastics if it can be inexpensively produced by fermentation. Two genes (ldhL and ldhD) encoding the L-(+) and D-(-) lactate dehydrogenases (L-LDH and D-LDH) were cloned from Lactobacillus sp., RKY2, which is a lactic acid hyper-producing bacterium isolated from Kimchi. Open reading frames of ldhL for and ldhD for the L and D-LDH genes were 962 and 998 bp, respectively. Both the L(+)- and D(-)-LDH proteins showed the highest degree of homology with the L- and D-lactate dehydrogenase genes of Lactobacillus plantarum. The conserved residues in the catalytic activity and substrate binding of both LDHs were identified in both enzymes.