Carboxypeptidase E (CPE) plays an important role in the regulation of the body fat content. Therefore, it has been suggested as candidate gene for traits related to meat quality in beef cattle. This study was conducted to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the CPE gene and to investigate association of SNP marker with carcass and meat quality traits in Korean cattle. Three SNPs were identified in the intron 4 (A309G SNP and C445T SNP) and exon 5 (C601T SNP) of the CPE gene by sequence analyses of CPE cDNA and genomic DNA samples. The sequences have been deposited in GenBank database with accession numbers AY970664 and AY970663. Genotyping of the gene-specific SNP marker was carried out using the PCR-RFLP with restriction enzymes Ddel for C445T SNP and NlaIII for C601T SNP. The frequencies of C and T alleles were 0.43 and 0.57 for C445T SNP and 0.42 and 0.58 for C601T SNP, respectively. Statistical analysis indicated that the C445T SNP showed a significant effect (p<0.05) on marbling score (MS) and breeding value of backfat thickness (BF-EBV), respectively. Animals with the CT genotype showed higher marbling score and backfat thickness than those with the TT genotype. This marker also showed a significant dominance effect for the MS and BF-EBV (p<0.05). However, no significant associations were observed between C601T SNP genotypes and all traits examined. The results suggest that the CPE gene may be used as a marker for carcass traits in Korean cattle.