A novel aerobic, non-motile, Gram-positive, pink-orange-pigmented, coccoid marine bacterium, designated strain SJ2(T), was isolated from the Gwangalli coast of Korea. The taxonomic position of strain SJ2(T) was determined based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, fatty acid patterns and physiological reaction profiles. The full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain SJ2(T) showed highest similarity to those of the type strains of Kocuria carniphila and Kocuria marina. Strain SJ2(T) exhibited mean levels of DNA-DNA relatedness of 17 and 35 % to the type strains of K. carniphila and K. marina, respectively. Based on these results, strain SJ2(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Kocuria, for which the name Kocuria gwangalliensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SJ2(T) (=KCCM 42914(T) =LMG 24672(T)).