BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Obesity is associated with increased triglyceride levels. We examined whether overall obesity (body mass index (BMI)) and abdominal obesity (waist circumference (WC)) are independently associated with hypertriglyceridemia among the Korean population. SUBJECTS/METHODS:A national sample of 5036 Koreans aged 19-64 was examined with cross-sectional surveys, the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in 2007 and 2008. BMI, WC and other lifestyle information were assessed. RESULTS:We documented 1344 cases (26.7%) of hypertriglyceridemia (fasting triglycerides of >150 mg/dl). Both BMI and WC were each independently associated with hypertriglyceridemia. Multivariate odds ratios (ORs) of increasing categories of BMI (<18.5, 18.5≤ - <23, 23≤ - <25, 25≤ - <28, ≥28 kg/m²), were 0.49, 1.00 (reference), 1.26, 1.63 and 1.84, respectively (P=0.0007) adjusting for WC. There was a positive association between WC and hypertriglyceridemia across increasing quintiles of WC (multivariate-adjusted ORs: 1.00 (reference), 1.54, 2.54, 2.21 and 2.36; P<0.0001), adjusting for BMI. WC was positively related to hypertriglyceridemia in both gender. However, only women's BMI was independently associated with hypertriglyceridemia after adjusting for WC. The joint relation between BMI and WC and hypertriglyceridemia showed that within each BMI category, higher WC predicted a greater prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia and vice versa. The receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that BMI (0.69) and WC (0.72) were similar in predicting hypertriglyceridemia. CONCLUSIONS:Both BMI and WC were strongly independently associated with hypertriglyceridemia among the population. Both measurements should be considered for use in assessing health risk at clinical settings and epidemiologic research among Asian population.