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SBS prepares a dark and committed drama with « Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia« a dark medical drama starring Kim Ji-won in a radically contrarian role. The first images unveiled show her as a solitary surgeon, ready to confront a hospital system riddled with corruption.
The project was officially presented on February 10 at SBS's 2026 programming revelation. Broadcast in Friday-Saturday slots, the drama is inspired by the cult Japanese series Doctor X, with a darker, more contemporary tone.
A genius surgeon confronts a corrupt system
In Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia, Kim Ji-won plays Gye Soo-jung, an exceptional surgeon sent by a medical placement agency. Renowned for her extraordinary talent and uncontrollable temperament, she is nicknamed the «mad dog of the operating theatre».
On her arrival at Guseo University Hospital, Soo-jung discovers an institution dominated by money, influence games and abuse of power. Refusing to bow to the unspoken rules of the system, she chooses to remain independent, swearing by her surgical skills. With no support, no network, she confronts head-on a medical world ready to do anything to preserve its privileges.
Through this character, the drama questions what it really means to «be a doctor» when ethics collide with financial and political interests.
A medical anti-hero at the heart of a dark thriller
Unlike conventional medical dramas that focus on teamwork or personal development, Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia focuses on a solitary, almost anti-heroic figure. Gye Soo-jung seeks neither recognition nor integration: she operates, she saves, she exposes excesses... even if it means alienating the entire system.
The project brings together the director Lee Jung-rim, known for VIP, Revenant and As You Stood By, and emerging screenwriter Pyeon Seong-geun. Together, they promise taut staging and incisive storytelling, on the borderline between thriller and social drama.
With this role, Kim Ji-won moves away from conventional heroines to embody a woman guided solely by her talent and personal morality, in a world where medicine becomes a battlefield.
The drama Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia is scheduled for release in october 2026 on SBS.
