William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."
Lee Jae-myung has little room for error after months of political paralysis

Lee Jae-myung and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, arrive for his inauguration as South Korean president in Seoul on June 4. © Reuters
William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."