A Gram-staining-negative, strictly aerobic, motile (by gliding), non-spore-forming and rod-shaped bacterial strain, designated THG-DT86(T), was isolated from soil of a ginseng field of Pocheon province in the Republic of Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated by a polyphasic approach. Growth occurred at 10-35 °C, at pH 6.5-8.5 and with 0-1.5 % (w/v) NaCl on trypticase soy agar. Flexirubin-type pigments were found to be present. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain THG-DT86(T) was shown to belong to the genus Taibaiella and was related to Taibaiella smilacinae PTJT-5(T) (95.3 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 50.1 mol%. The only isoprenoid quinone detected in strain THG-DT86(T) was menaquinone-7 (MK-7) and the only polyamine was homospermidine. The predominant fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, C16 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G and iso-C17 : 0, and the major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified aminophosphoglycolipid and an unidentified aminophospholipid. Phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference supported the affiliation of strain THG-DT86(T) to the genus Taibaiella, and a number of biochemical tests differentiated strain THG-DT86(T) from the recognized species of the genus Taibaiella. Therefore, the novel isolate represents a novel species, for which the name Taibaiella koreensis sp. nov. is proposed, with THG-DT86(T) as the type strain ( = KACC 17171(T) = JCM 18823(T)).