Doenjang(fermented soybean paste) was prepared by the series of processes including soaking, cooking, first fermentation(3 days at 30$pm$2$^{circ}C$) for the preparation of meju(soybean koji) after inoclulation of Aspergillus oryzae, and further fermentation (60 days at 30$pm$2$^{circ}C$) for the ripening after addition of salt 13% to meju. the crude phenolics extracted from defatted soybean and doenjang were fractionated onto the neutral phenolics(isofavonoids) and acidic phenolics(phenolic acids), respectively. Composition and antioxidative characteristics of phenolic fractions were determined. The neutral phenolic fractions contained genistin, genistein and daidzein; on the other hand, acidic phenolic fractions had syringic acid and seven other components. The content of genistin in doenjang dramatically decreased at the early stage of fermentation, whereas the content of genistein rather increased. In addition, the content of syringic acid of acidic phenolic fractions were increased during fermentation. These changes in individual phenolic components affected the antioxidative activity of neutral phenolics or acidic phenolics. antioxidative activity of phenolic compounds were evaluated during soybean fermentation. The antioxidative and free radical scavenging activity of neutral phenolic fractions and acidic phenolic fractions on linoleic acid autoxidation were also investigated.