Kim Ji-won returns as dark-hero genius doctor in 'Doctor X: Age of White Mafia,' premiering Oct. 9

SBS's new Friday-Saturday drama 〈Doctor X: Age of White Mafia〉 (directed by Lee Jung-rim and written by Pyeon Seong-geun) will premiere at 9:50 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.

〈Doctor X: Age of White Mafia〉 is a cathartic medical noir about Dr. X, Gye Su-jeong (Kim Ji-won), who uses her genius surgical skills — knowing neither failure nor compromise — to take on deep-seated injustice. It is the first medical drama in SBS's cathartic universe, which has produced 〈Taxi Driver〉, 〈The Fiery Priest〉 and 〈The Judge from Hell〉. Director Lee Jung-rim, who helmed the drama 〈Revenant〉, and writer Pyeon Seong-geun have joined forces for the series.

Kim Ji-won, returning to television after two years, plays Gye Su-jeong, a genius surgeon. Explaining why she chose the project for her comeback, Kim said, "The gap between how Gye Su-jeong appears on the outside and what we discover about her the more closely we look was fascinating." She introduced the character as "someone who has exiled herself to the darkness and devoted herself entirely to her surgical skills."

She also cited the way the character conveys her sense of duty as a key difference from protagonists in existing medical dramas. "Because she has devoted most of her abilities to surgery, she is somewhat clumsy in emotional situations," Kim said. "I wanted to portray the light and dark sides of Gye Su-jeong, who lacks social skills despite her flawless surgical technique." Her comments point to the arrival of a distinctly different kind of doctor character.

SBS's new Friday-Saturday drama 〈Doctor X: Age of White Mafia〉, starring Kim Ji-won, Lee Jung-eun as Jang Hee-sook, Son Hyun-joo as Boo Seung-kwon and Kim Woo-seok as Park Tae-kyung, will premiere at 9:50 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.