Twenty strains of pentachlorophnol (PCP) resistant bacteria were isolated from activated sludge of the sewage treatment plant of Jung Lang Chun, Seoul. The predominant strains were Bacillus spp. including B. sphaericus and B. schlegelii. The other strains were identified as Corynebacterium spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Arthrobacter spp. and Aeromonas spp. The resistant strains could be grouped into two categories; PCP-degrading and PCP-adsorbing/absorbing ones. PCP-degrading strains degraded 75∼90% of PCP in the medium containing 100 ppm PCP during the first 24 hours of growth. At the initial period the PCP-adsorbing/absorbing strains removed PCP from the medium but started to release PCP after 24 or 72 hours of growth. PCP degradation products from the culture broth of PCP-degrading strains were identified by comparing their R_f values with those of the reference compounds. 2-chlorophenol and 2.4-dichlorophenol were presumed to be the intermediate products of PCP degradation.