Archive · 11 Oct 2026
Doctor X Opens With a Surgeon Challenging Hospital Politics
Doctor X is a South Korean medical drama starring Kim Ji-won as surgeon Gye Su Jeong.
She is very skilled and speaks up when she thinks hospital rules are putting patients second.
In the first episode, she steps in during a dangerous operation and saves a patient.
But her arguments with hospital leaders lead to her being fired.
In the second episode, she refuses to let a VIP's importance come before an emergency patient.
She also disagrees with a surgeon about how to operate on a wealthy patient with pancreatic cancer.
The operation is stopped when the surgeon discovers the cancer is more extensive than expected.
A medical report from seven years earlier hints that Su Jeong may be connected to a similar operation.
The opening episodes also explore how money and status can affect care in a hospital.
Kim Ji-won returns to television in Doctor X: Mafia in White as surgeon Gye Su Jeong.
In episode one, Su Jeong takes over a failing operation and saves the patient, but is fired after clashing with hospital director Bu Seung-gwon.
In episode two, she resists prioritizing a VIP patient over emergency patient Lee Ju Hee and questions the treatment plan for Chairman Park Gwang Cheol.
A high-risk pancreatic cancer operation becomes uncertain when surgeon Do Yun Sik finds the disease more extensive than expected and stops the procedure.
A seven-year-old report about a similar operation by a surgeon called Doctor X raises questions about Su Jeong's past.
- Who
- Gye Su Jeong, played by Kim Ji-won, and staff and patients at Guseo University Hospital.
- What
- The first two episodes introduce Su Jeong's clashes with hospital hierarchy, urgent surgical decisions, and a mystery about her past.
- When
- The opening episodes of Doctor X; the article does not specify their release date.
- Where
- Guseo University Hospital; the story also opens with a flashback to a remote medical facility.
- Why
- Su Jeong challenges hospital decisions she believes put status and influence ahead of patient care.
Su Jeong's approach
Hospital hierarchy
Who should receive priority
Su Jeong's approach
Su Jeong refuses to let a VIP patient's status take priority over emergency patient Lee Ju Hee.
Hospital hierarchy
Her colleagues believe the hospital hierarchy should be respected.
Treatment for Chairman Park Gwang Cheol
Su Jeong's approach
Su Jeong argues for a riskier operation that she believes could remove the pancreatic tumour completely.
Hospital hierarchy
Do Yun Sik favors a less aggressive procedure, then stops the operation after finding the cancer more extensive than expected.
- Series
- Doctor X: Mafia in White
- Episodes reviewed
- Episodes 1 and 2
- Lead actor
- Kim Ji-won
- Protagonist
- Gye Su Jeong, a surgeon
- Hospital
- Guseo University Hospital
- Central conflict
- Su Jeong challenges hospital hierarchy and the influence of money and status on patient care.
- Past mystery
- A seven-year-old report describes a similar high-risk operation by a surgeon identified as Doctor X; the patient died two months later.