In this study high power Nd:YAG laser welding of structural steel was investigated. For the test steel blocks of $50{ imes}50{ imes}200mm$ were cut and machined, and bead-on-plate weld was made on the machined surface. Argon, nitrogen, helium, dry air or mixed gases were used to find the effect of shielding conditions on the bead formation. Results demonstrated that there were Fe I rich region and Fe II rich region in the laser induced plasma column based on the spectral analysis with S-2000 field spectrometer The Fe I region was located at the root of the column near keyhole opening. On the other hand, Fe II region was found at the middle of the plasma column. In the Nd:YAG laser welding, Fe I region emitted continuum which had peak value at wave length of around 710nm, and Fe II region had the peak at 580nm. In the welding of steel by $CO_2$ laser, however, no continuum was observed. There showed two groups of strong spikes in the $CO_2$ laser welding; the first group was displayed at the wave band of 450-560nm. This spike group emitted stronger intensity of light and sharper peaks than those group at 680-800nm.