Strain $DY6^T$, a Gram-positive endospore-forming motile rodshaped bacterium, was isolated from soil in South Korea and characterized to determine its taxonomic position. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain $DY6^T$ revealed that strain $DY6^T$ belongs to the genus Paenibacillus in the family Paenibacillaceae in the class Bacilli. The highest degree of sequence similarities of strain $DY6^T$ were found with Paenibacillus gansuensis $B518^T$ (97.9%), P. chitinolyticus IFO $15660^T$ (95.3%), P. chinjuensis $WN9^T$ (94.7%), and P. rigui $WPCB173^T$(94.7%). Chemotaxonomic data revealed that the predominant fatty acids were anteiso- $C_{15:0}$ (38.7%) and $C_{16:0}$ (18.0%). A complex polar lipid profile consisted of major amounts of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylglycerol. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7. Based on these phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic, and phenotypic data, strain $DY6^T$ (=KCTC $33026^T$ =JCM $18491^T$) should be classified as a type strain of a novel species, for which the name Paenibacillus swuensis sp. nov. is proposed.