The purpose of this study was to investigate the aflatoxin $B_1$ binding of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from Korean traditional soybean paste and to evaluate the effect of incubation conditions and physico-chemical factors on the binding ability of LAB to this mutagen. The amount of aflatoxin $B_1$ bound by Enterococcus faecium DJ22, Lactobacillus fermentum DJ35, Lactobacillus rhamnosus DJ42, and Lactobacillus pentosus DJ47 was strain specific with the percent bound ranging from 19.3% to 52.1%. However, Enterococcus faecalis DJ14, Lactobacillus panis DJ29, and Pediococcus halophilus DJ50 strains did not exhibit any of the binding ability to aflatoxin $B_1$. For most strains, the binding ability was significantly affected by the environmental conditions such as the aflatoxin $B_1$ level, incubation time and temperature, and the initial cell count of LAB. The stability of the aflatoxin $B_1$-bacteria complexes was significantly more unstable after washing. In addition, the binding stability between viable and nonviable cells was not statistically significant. Treatment with heating, acidic pH, ${alpha}$-amylase, protease, lysozyme, or sodium metaperiodate caused a significant (P<0.05) decrease in aflatoxin $B_1$ binding for the tested strains, suggesting that carbohydrates or proteins in the cell walls may be involved in aflatoxin $B_1$ binding ability. Since the aflatoxin $B_1$ binding of LAB was significantly reduced (P<0.05) by the pretreatment of the urea, the binding force observed in this study may have resulted from hydrophobic interaction.