A domestic think tank is forecasting that North Korea will outpace South Korea in terms of working age population due to the South's low birthrate and aging society.

World population estimates recently released by the United Nations show 73 percent of South Korea’s population was between the ages of 15 and 64 last year. The figure came to 69 percent for North Korea.

The Hyundai Research Institute forecast, however, that the percentage will continuously drop in the South to 71 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2030, with the percentage in North Korea trumping the South's for the first time in 2020 at 71-point-three percent. The institute says the North’s figure would be at 69 percent in 2030 and 65 percent by the year 2050.

The institute advised that the South find a way to utilize the North Korean workforce in order to maintain economic growth.