A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, red bacterium, designated DCY57(T), was isolated from soil of a ginseng field in a mountainous region of Chungnam province in South Korea. Strain DCY57(T) grew with 0-1 % (w/v) NaCl and the optimum temperature for growth was 30 °C. Strain DCY57(T) contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone. The polyamine was sym-homospermidine. The major fatty acids were C(16:1)ω5c, iso-C(15:0), anteiso-C(15:0) and summed feature 3 (containing C(16:1)ω7c and/or C(16:1)ω6c). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, unknown aminophospholipids, unknown aminolipids and unknown lipids. The DNA G+C content was 58.9 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain DCY57(T) was most closely related to members of the genus Hymenobacter. The isolate exhibited 91.7 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with H. soli PB17(T), 94.5 % with H. flocculans A2-50A(T) and 95.8 % with H. metalli A2-91(T). On the basis of the evidence presented in this study, strain DCY57(T) represents a novel species within the genus Hymenobacter, for which the name Hymenobacter ginsengisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DCY57(T) ( = KCTC 23674(T) = JCM 17841(T)).