-The experiment was designed to study the char oxidation kinetics of pulverized coals commonly utilized in Korean power plants. The kinetics has been estimated using the Semenov's thermal spontaneous ignition theory adapted to coal char particle ignition temperature. The ignition temperature of coal char particle is obtained by a direct measurement of the particle temperature with photo detector as well as by means of a solid thermocouple which is used as both a heating and a measuring element. The ignition temperatures for subbituminous coal, Wira, and bituminous coal, Yakutugol, have been measured for 4 sizes in the range of 0.52-1.09 mm. The ignition temperature of the particle increases with the increasing diameter. The results were used to calculate the activation energy and the pre-exponential factor. As a result, the kinetic parameters are in an agreement with ones reported from other investigations.