This study was undertaken to compare the gait characteristics between the Korean elderly and young adults, we measured the plantar pressure and contact time of gait with barefoot along a walkway at their preferred walking speed. The results indicate that older people exhibited significantly less plantar pressure than young adult in all 3 regions (FF, MF and RF) and significantly less time % on the initial contact phase (ICP), forefoot push-off phase (FFPOP) and sig-nificantly more % forefoot contact phase (FFCP) and foot flat phase (FFP). The converted plantar pressure value to per-centage, it showed more pressure in forefoot (FF) in the elderly person than the young adults. It could be explained that the forward shifting in plantar pressure are associated with a more flexed posture of elderly such as actual stabilizing fear-related adaptations. Longer total foot contact time in the elderly means that the old people show the decreased gait veloc-ity. In other words, lower velocity was found to be associated with pre-existing fear of falling. With longer contact time and slower stepping movement, the elderly become more unstable. With these findings, it could be confirmed that there were significant changes in foot characteristics which contribute to alter the plantar pressure and contact time during gait with advancing age. Further research is required to establish possible links to risk of falling and development of footwear in the elderly adults.