South Korea鈥檚 recent economic performance has been disappointing. After 40 years of 7.9 percent annual GDP growth, the average growth rate dropped to 4.1 percent in 2000-2010, and has stood at a mere 3 percent since 2011.

This has many wondering whether South Korea is headed for the kind of protracted deflation and stagnation that characterized Japan鈥檚 so-called 鈥渓ost decades,鈥� from which it is just beginning to emerge. The similarities between South Korea today and Japan 20 years ago are undeniable.

On economic matters, South Korea has, for better or worse, often followed Japan鈥檚 example. In this case, Japan鈥檚 example can save South Korea 鈥� if South Korea鈥檚 leaders take it as a lesson in what not to do.

Japan鈥檚 woes are rooted in real-estate and equity bubbles, which were fueled by monetary expansion aimed at stimulating domestic demand after the 1985 Plaza Accord drove up the yen鈥檚 value and hurt Japan鈥檚 exports. In the early 1990s, the bubbles burst, leaving the private sector with a huge debt overhang. Add to that sluggish productivity growth, weak demand, and rapid population aging, and Japan鈥檚 situation was dire.

At first, Japan鈥檚 authorities turned again to fiscal and monetary expansion. But fiscal policies often targeted unproductive projects, such as rural infrastructure construction, and weaknesses in the banking system dampened the effectiveness of monetary stimulus. As a result, the economy grew by just 1.1 percent, on average, in the 1990s, far below the 4.5 percent of the 1980s.

In the early 2000s, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi鈥檚 government took aggressive action to tackle underlying problems in the financial and corporate sectors. Despite these efforts 鈥� not to mention the boost provided by rapid GDP growth in China, Japan鈥檚 economy expanded by just 0.75 percent annually, on average, for the entire decade.

Things have been looking up since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in 2012 and launched his three-pronged recovery strategy, dubbed 鈥淎benomics,鈥� which entailed bold monetary easing, fiscal expansion, and structural reforms. Stock prices have climbed more than 80 percent.

Not yet out of the woods

The yen鈥檚 depreciation 鈥� from 78 to 123 against the US dollar 鈥� has boosted exports of industrial products and, in turn, corporate profitability. Consequently, employment and wages have also increased.

Now, Abe is preparing to augment these efforts with initiatives to address major drags on Japan鈥檚 economy. So-called 鈥淎benomics 2.0鈥� entails efforts to raise the fertility rate (free preschool education, support for fertility treatments, and greater assistance for single-parent families) and to mitigate problems associated with population aging (boosting social security and providing more employment opportunities for retirees).

But Japan鈥檚 economy is by no means out of the woods. On the contrary, GDP contracted by 0.1 percent last year, and is expected to grow by just 0.6 percent this year. Moreover, despite continued purchases of 80 trillion yen per year in government bonds, the Bank of Japan has failed to achieve its 2 percent inflation target. And Japan鈥檚 public debt-to-GDP ratio, at 240 percent (and rising), remains the highest in the world.

And Abenomics 2.0 may not succeed, not least because young people, unconvinced that they can support larger families, are increasingly delaying marriage and children. Against this background, many believe that preventing the current population of 127 million from falling below 100 million 鈥� Abe鈥檚 official goal 鈥� will require Japan to accept more immigrants. That is no small matter in a country that places such a high value on homogeneity.

Simply put, while Japan has some reason for hope, its position is not enviable. And, if South Korea is not careful, it could end up in much the same place.

Employing many of the same development strategies 鈥� including export-oriented policies and a conglomerate-dominated industrial system 鈥� South Korea has been catching up with Japan for four decades. Its per capita income (in terms of purchasing power parity), just one-fifth of Japan鈥檚 in 1970, amounts to almost 95 percent of Japan鈥檚 today. Over the same period, South Korea鈥檚 share of global exports jumped from 0.3 percent to 3 percent 鈥� very close to Japan鈥檚 3.6 percent.

The right medicine

To be sure, significant differences between the two countries remain. South Korea still lags behind Japan in international influence and institutional quality. South Korea ranks 26th on the World Economic Forum鈥檚 Global Competitiveness Index, whereas Japan ranks sixth. Based on the gap in GDP per worker with that of the US, South Korea is more than 20 years behind Japan.

Nonetheless, the reality is that South Korea has been experiencing many of the same problems Japan did in the early 1990s, including high levels of household and corporate debt, labor- and financial-market inefficiencies, and low productivity in the service sector.

Given a fertility rate of just 1.2 births per woman 鈥� among the lowest in the world 鈥� South Korea鈥檚 labor force is set to shrink by a quarter by 2050, with people aged 65 and over accounting for 35 percent of the total population, up from 13 percent today. This will put serious strain on public budgets.

If South Korea is to avoid Japan鈥檚 fate, it must take steps to reduce its household and corporate debt. It also should continue to implement structural reforms aimed at strengthening its labor and financial markets, improving institutional quality, and boosting productivity in services and small and medium-size enterprises.

Taking a cue from Abenomics 2.0, South Korea would do well to provide a better environment for child rearing, including flexible working environments, affordable and high-quality childcare and after-school programs, and paid maternal and paternal leave. Financial support, such as low-interest loans for newlyweds, could also promote marriage and childbirth.

Japan鈥檚 lost decades highlight the importance of treating economic ills with the right medicine, before they become chronic and difficult to cure. If South Korea takes this lesson, and implements the right policies and reforms, being like Japan won鈥檛 have to mean sharing its economic fate.

Lee Jong-Wha, Professor of Economics and Director of the Asiatic Research Institute at Korea University, served as Chief Economist and Head of the Office of Regional Economic Integration at the Asian Development Bank and was senior adviser for international economic affairs to former President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2015. www.project-syndicate.org