OBJECTIVE: To assess the dietary pattern associated with hypertension and pre-hypertension among Korean male and female adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study from a representative sample of the Korean population. SETTING: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV, which was conducted in 2007 and 2008. SUBJECTS: Males and females (n 5308) over the age of 20 years. RESULTS: Scores for three major dietary patterns ('whole food', 'Western' and 'drinking') were generated using a factor analysis of thirty predefined food groups based on the food items consumed. We used polytomous logistic regression analyses to obtain odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals for pre-hypertension and hypertension. Participants with a high drinking pattern score (moderate to high alcohol intake, salted fermented seafood intake) had a significantly higher prevalence of pre-hypertension or hypertension than those with a lower drinking pattern score; odds for the top quintile v. the bottom quintile were OR = 1·56 (95 % CI 1·23, 1·99; P trend = 0·001) for pre-hypertension and OR = 3·05 (95 % CI 2·12, 4·40; P trend < 0·001) for hypertension. The whole food pattern was not associated with either pre-hypertension or hypertension, while the Western pattern was associated with the prevalence of hypertension only among men. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding warrants further prospective studies to examine whether alcohol drinking and salty food consumption increase the risk of developing hypertension in Koreans.