This study examined the relationship between reading and vocabulary within general and academic context. Forty-seven Korean EFL university students who participated in this research were given a reading comprehension test of general and academic topics. Also, vocabulary tests were conducted to measure the students’ size of vocabulary and their knowledge of general and academic words. The results revealed different findings for each type of vocabulary and reading. First, learners’ size of vocabulary significantly predicted reading comprehension, but the predictive power of academic vocabulary was stronger than vocabulary size. Second, general reading comprehension showed a similar result with the overall reading comprehension score in that academic vocabulary made a stronger contribution than vocabulary size. Finally, a different result was found for academic reading comprehension, and students’ size of vocabulary rather than academic vocabulary was the only significant predictor. The results indicate the different characteristics of general and academic reading, which implicates that each type of reading should be taught in a different manner.