Screening for antilisterial activity was performed in about three thousand isolates of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Chinese cabbage kimchi, and finally based on the relatively stronger antilisterial activities eight bacterial strains were selected. The bacteria were further characterized in terms of their tolerance to artificial gastric juice, pH 2.5, bile salts (0.3% oxgall), and to the different NaCl concentrations. Of the isolates, YK005 was especially investigated for its physiological characteristics due to its inhibitory activity against gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes as well as gram-negative Escherichia coli O157:H7, as they have been constantly reported to be resistant against bacteriocins produced by a number of LAB strains. YK005 was found to be rod-shaped, $3.8;{mu}m$ long ${ imes};0.5;{mu}m$ wide, non-sporeforming, non-motile, catalase-negative, and produced gas from glucose (heterolactic). Based on the biochemical data obtained by API 50 CHL medium, the isolate was tentatively identified as Lactobacillus brevis. To validate the result obtained by the biochemical identification, rRNA-based PCR experiments using a pair of species-specific primers for L. brevis were conducted and a single band of 1400 bp was observed, which strongly indicated that YK005 belongs to L. brevis. The LAB isolates are potentially exploited as human probiotic organisms and are employed to control some food-borne pathogens like L. monocytogenes.