S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) is a bioactive material used in the treatment of depression, osteoarthritis, and liver disease. To obtain lactic acid bacteria (LAB) producing high concentrations of SAM, LAB were isolated from commercial kimchi and from prepared kimchi products that contained shrimp jeotgal (fermented salty seafood) or sand lance jeotgal or that were fermented at 5 or $10^{circ}C$, respectively, when pH was 4.2 to 4.8 and titratable acidity 0.6 to 0.9. Among the 179 LAB strains isolated from the fermented kimchi products, the genus Leuconostoc produced the highest intracellular level of SAM (1.58 mM) and Lactobacillus produced the second highest level (up to 1.47 mM) in the strain culture. This is the first study to quantify SAM in LAB isolated from fermented kimchi prepared by a general kimchi recipe. Ultimately, the selected strains (Leuconostoc mesentroides subsp. mesenteroides/dextranicum KSK417, L. mesentroides subsp. mesenteroides/dextranicum KJM401, and Lactobacillus bifermentans QMW327) could be useful as starters to manufacture fermented foods containing high levels of SAM.