CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE SUMMARIZE THIS PLEAS Concerning the future of Korean society, there are certainties and uncertainties. Demographic pictures are relatively certain, but people are uncertain of economic prospects. Population will increase to the peak of slightly more than 50 million in the mid 2010s and will decrease rapidly afterward. Population aging will proceed more rapidly during the next three or four decades, until the proportion of the elderly reach one quarter of the total population. A similar trend is expected in North Korea. Korea will face a new demographic situation that contrasts sharply with what prevailed throughout the twentieth century. For example, the labor force situation will be reversed. The Korean economy has been aided greatly by a growing labor force during 1960-2000, but will be burdened by the population aging and a shrinking labor force in the coming years.

North Korea and the national reunification might be crucial factors in evaluating the future of Korea. It is widely believed that the two Koreas will be reunited sometime in the earlier part of the twenty-first century. The timing and method would have tremendous demographic as well as economic implications for both Koreas. More immediate concerns in this regard might be the prospects of political relationship, economic cooperation, and labor migration between South and North Korea.