To assess the food intake and diet quality of Korean adults living in rural areas , a dietary survey using a one day 24-hour recall method was conducted with 2037 subjects over 30 years of age living in Yeonchon-gun , Kyungki province of Korea. Eighty percent of total food intake was in the form of vegetable food and the rest in the form o fanimal food . Diet quality was assessed by food group pattern, dietary diversity score(DDS), and dietary variety score(DVS). When counting the major food groups consumed (DDs), 47% of subjects had a DDS of 3 and 31% of subjects had a DDs of 4. On average, subjects habitually consumed 14.9 different foods daily, with the mean score of diet variety (DVS) for males(14.4) being significantly lower than for females (15.2). Persons who had higher DDSS also had higher DVSS(p<0.001). As the DDs increased , MAR(Mean adequacy ratio) improved. Correlation coefficients between NAR(nutrient adequacy ratio) and DVS ranged from r=0.34 for vitamin C to re=0.51 for vitamin B$_2$. NAR also improved as the number of foods or food groups consumed increased (p<0.001). Associations between the NAR of most nutrients with DVS was better than those with DDS. Based on these results, the food intake of the study subjects was not adequate, especially with regards to the dairy and fruit groups . Dietary diversity (DDS) and especially dietary variety (DVS) would be useful in assess nutrient intake because of their associations with total diet quality.