A swing control system and method for a construction machine using an electric motor is provided. The swing control system includes a swing electric motor swinging an upper swing structure and a swing control unit. The swing control unit includes a reference speed calculation means for calculating a reference swing speed and a maximum acceleration according to a manipulation signal of a control lever for a swing manipulation; a swing speed determination means for calculating a first speed change amount from a difference between the reference swing speed and an actual swing speed by the electric motor that is currently fed back, calculating a second speed change amount for a sampling time from the maximum acceleration, and determining a swing speed according to the manipulation signal by comparing the first speed change amount and the second speed change amount and adding a smaller amount between the first speed change amount and the second speed change amount obtained as the result of comparison to the actual swing speed currently fed back; and an output torque control means for controlling an output torque of the electric motor by generating a control signal for the determined swing speed.