Objectives: Korea can be considered to be an aged society and discussions concerning the quality of life of the elderly are actively under way. Despite this, Korea has not been stripped of the stigma of having one of the highest OECD suicide rates for the past 10 years. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of various types of exclusion experienced by the elderly in rural areas, including economic, health, housing, education, relationship, social and community exclusion. It also examines the effects these factors have on the suicidal ideation of the elderly. Methods: For this study, data was gathered from 248 participants aged 60 and over by means of face to face interviews conducted with elderly living in rural areas. The statistical methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics, t-test, correlations and hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS 21.0. Results: According to the results of this analysis, elderly women show higher health exclusion, educational exclusion and basic service exclusion than elderly men. Examining the effect that the social exclusion of rural elderly has on suicidal ideation, it can be seen that community exclusion, cultural exclusion and gender have a significant impact on suicidal ideation. Conclusion: It is very important to understand the various factors related to suicidal ideation of the rural elderly. And it is actually required to develop the special social services to prevent suicidal ideation. The implications of this study in terms of suicide prevention policies for the rural elderly have been discussed.