From Queen of Tears to the operating room, Kim Ji-won has traded romance for a much sharper kind of drama.
Her new series, Doctor X: Mafia in White, follows a brilliant freelance surgeon who has little patience for hospital politics and even less interest in compromise. It premiered in South Korea on October 9, 2026, and the numbers are already turning heads: episode four drew an 18.5% nationwide TV rating. The best part for overseas viewers? It’s available on Netflix in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Korea Curio original AI-generated editorial artwork. Not an official SBS or Netflix promotional image.
The essentials, before you press play
| Official English title | Doctor X: Mafia in White |
| Korean title | 닥터X: 하얀 마피아의 시대 |
| Genre | Medical drama, thriller, noir |
| Korean premiere | October 9, 2026 (SBS) |
| Broadcast schedule | Fridays and Saturdays, 9:50 p.m. KST |
| Total episodes | 12 planned; episodes 1–4 available as of October 22 |
| Where to watch | Netflix US / Netflix UK; English audio and subtitles listed in both regions |
Next scheduled Korean broadcast: Episode 5 on Friday, October 23. Streaming updates may vary by region and account.
What is Doctor X about?
At Guseo University Medical Center, powerful doctors hold the reins. Then Gye Su-jeong arrives. Played by Kim Ji-won, she’s a gifted surgeon brought in through a physician-staffing agency to fill a vacancy—and she refuses to accept the unwritten rules of the hospital hierarchy. Her priority is the patient, even when that puts her at odds with the people running the place.
SBS calls the series a medical noir. That matters: this is not simply a case-of-the-week hospital drama. The central conflict is between surgical expertise and institutional power, with hints that the doctor’s own past is more complicated than her cool exterior suggests. That’s the premise, not a spoiler.
The four faces you should know
Kim Ji-won — Gye Su-jeong: the fiercely independent freelance surgeon known as Doctor X. This is Kim’s first television drama since Queen of Tears (2024).
Lee Jung-eun — Jang Hui-suk: the doctor-placement agency director whose shared history with Su-jeong gives the drama a relationship beyond the hospital’s power struggle.
Son Hyun-joo — Bu Seung-gwon: the head of Guseo University Medical Center, caught in the institution’s power dynamics.
Kim Woo-seok — Park Tae-gyeong: a warmhearted medical intern learning what it means to be a doctor.
Wait—wasn’t there already a Japanese Doctor-X?
Yes, and this is the fun piece of backstory. The Korean show is an adaptation of Japan’s long-running Doctor-X franchise, which grew to seven television seasons and a film. At an October 7 press conference, director Lee Jeong-lim said the Korean version preserves the original’s strong central premise while reshaping its emotional tone for local audiences.
If you’ve watched the Japanese original, there’s an extra reason to be curious: how does the famously uncompromising outsider-surgeon formula work as an SBS medical noir? If you haven’t, no homework is necessary. Netflix presents this Korean adaptation as its own series.
Two behind-the-scenes details worth sharing
1. Kim Ji-won deliberately changed her look. At the launch press conference, she explained that she chose a rougher short-bob hairstyle and pared back the glamorous styling associated with her previous roles. It’s a fitting contrast to the polished Hong Hae-in of Queen of Tears—and a concrete clue to how she approached Su-jeong.
2. The show’s most talked-about pairing isn’t necessarily romantic. Kim and Lee Jung-eun discussed the closeness of their two characters, and Kim even playfully said she would love to win a year-end Best Couple Award with her co-star. Their relationship is a key part of the production’s pitch, not a claim about a romantic subplot.
One more small detail: director Lee initially joked that she hoped for a first-week rating of 9.21%, matching her September 21 birthday. The premiere instead opened at 11.4% nationwide.
The ratings are doing the talking
11.4% → 18.5%
Nationwide average TV audience share: episode 1 (October 9) vs. episode 4 (October 17).
SBS reported that episode four also reached a 20.8% peak audience share during the broadcast—not the same measure as its 18.5% nationwide average. Citing third-party ranking service FlixPatrol, SBS also reported that the show appeared in Netflix’s Top 10 in 61 countries as of October 19. Those are dated ranking snapshots, not lifetime viewing totals.
In English-language discussions on r/KDRAMA, some viewers are especially engaged by the clash between patient care and hospital seniority, while others have raised questions about professional boundaries and medical rules. These are individual comments, not a representative survey of viewers. Note: the discussion thread contains spoilers.
The Korea Curio take
The premise has an instantly recognizable appeal: someone with the skills to do the job finally stops playing the workplace’s social game. Setting that fantasy inside a hospital gives it unusually high stakes. Whether the series can keep balancing rebellious satisfaction with believable medicine is the more interesting question—and one to judge as the remaining episodes arrive.
Ready to watch?
Start with episode one on Netflix US or Netflix UK. Both official listings include an English audio option and English subtitles. You can also find the series trailer directly on the Netflix title page.
Content note: Netflix lists the show as TV-MA in the U.S. and 15 in the U.K. Regional availability and language options may change.
Reporting notes & sources
Checked October 22, 2026 (KST). This is a spoiler-free guide based on official program listings, interviews, reported ratings and individually attributed online comments—not a first-person episode review.
SBS official program page · SBS October 7 cast interview · SBS October 20 ratings report · Netflix U.S. listing · Netflix U.K. listing