Disclosed is a positive active material for a lithium rechargeable battery, a method of preparing the same, and a lithium rechargeable battery comprising the same. The positive active material has an I.sub.(003)/I.sub.(104) intensity ratio of between 1.15 to 1 and 1.21 to 1 in an X ray diffraction pattern using CuK.alpha. ray, wherein I.sub.(003)/I.sub.(004) is the X-ray diffraction intensity of the (003) plane divided by the X-ray diffraction intensity of the (104) plane. The compound is represented by the formula: Li.sub.xNi.sub.yCo.sub.zMn.sub.1-y-z-qX.sub.qO.sub.2 wherein x.gtoreq.1.05, 0