The selective catalytic reduction(SCR) system used to reduce NOx in diesel engines requires an NO/$NO_2$ ratio of about 1 in exhaust emissions to realize the fast SCR mode at temperatures lower than $300^{circ}C$. This study investigated the characteristics of a plasma system as a pre-active apparatus for the fast SCR reaction mode of an SCR system. Plasma was generated by the pulse corona discharge(PCD) method with a four-channel wire-cylinder reactor. This study showed that plasma was easily generated in the exhaust gas by the PCD system, and the peak voltage of the normal state condition for plasma generation was generally 12 kV. The PCD system easily converted NO into $NO_2$ at lower temperatures and the NO/$NO_2$ conversion ratio increased with the discharge current for plasma generation. But the PCD system could not convert NO into $NO_2$ at higher engine speeds and higher engine loads due to the lack of oxygen in exhaust gas. The PCD system also activated the diesel oxidation catalysts(DOC) system to reduce CO emissions.