Guided by the assumption that the preferences for aparticular type of living arrangement are influencedby values of privacy and the level of needs/resourcesamong the elderly, this study investigates how thesocioeconomic and demographic characteristics of theKorean elderly are associated with their preferencesfor independent living over coresidence with theirchildren. A logit model analysis is conducted basedon data from the 1994 Survey on the Living Status ofKorean Elderly. The major findings are: (1) contraryto common belief, the rural elderly are morelikely to prefer independent living than the urbanelderly, (2) provided that elderly parents havefinancial resources, those in poor health are morelikely than those in fair health to prefer separateresidence from their children, and (3) the absence ofa son increases the likelihood of preferringindependent living over coresidence. The implicationsof these findings for current Korean policy promotingcoresidence and for studies of living arrangements ofthe elderly are discussed.