Acoustic emission(AE) measurement was carried out to evaluate the fracture behavior of high tension steel. Fracture toughness <TEXT>$K_{AE}$</TEXT> could be determined reasonably by using the load value corresponding to an abrupt change of the accumulated AE counts AE emitted from the test specimens. AE characteristics of the base metal, the weld metal and the heat-affected zone could be distinguished using a constant value b which represented the AE amplitude distribution, Consequently the structure integrity can be evaluated by variation of the constant b at the load level. In addition it was found that AE signals due to crack growth have high amplitude but low rise time and duration.