China's labor decline—extended by an echo?

ECONOMICS FOCUS: "Reserve army of underemployed: Is China's pool of surplus labour drying up? The Economist, 6 September 2008.

The argument is an echo boom of today's aging workforce will extend the number of 20-29-year-olds entering the workforce through 2015, meaning the total working age pop doesn't peak until about 2025.

Big key? Continuing to modernize ag to force underemployed labor into the cities.

Comments

[Michael]

I wonder: If China explicitly allowed refugees and asylum seekers from North Korea, and made plans accordingly, how many of them could they absorb into their economy? How much of the overflow could be absorbed by Russia, Japan and the US (from what I've heard, South Korea is already feeling a bit overwhelmed)? How many lives would be saved by starting this process before the Kims collapse and would the loss of labor hasten said collapse?