In this study, Expressed Sequence Tag-Simple Sequence Repeat (EST-SSR) analyses were used to clarify the genetic polymorphisms among Korean ginseng cultivars and breeding lines and to classify them into distinct genetic groups. Polymorphic and reproducible bands were produced by 14 primers out of total 30 primers used in this study. Fourteen EST-SSR loci generated a total of 123 bands. Amplified PCR products showed the highly reproducible banding patterns at 110~920 bp. The number of amplified bands for each EST-SSR primers ranged from 2 to 19 with a mean of 8.8 bands. P26 and P35 primers showed 13 and 12 banding patterns, respectively. The number of alleles for each EST-SSR locus ranged from 1.67 to 2.00 with a mean of 1.878 alleles. P34 and P60 primers showed the highest and the lowest genetic polymorphism, respectively. Cluster analysis based on genetic similarity estimated by EST-SSR markers classified Korean cultivars and breeding lines into 4 groups. Group included Gopoong and Chunpoong and 9 breeding lines (55%), group included 2 breeding lines (10%), group included 3 breeding lines (15%), group included Gumpoong and 3 breeding lines (20%). Consequently, the EST-SSR marker developed in this study may prove useful for the evaluation of genetic diversity and differentiation of Korean ginseng cultivars and breeding lines.