Kim Ji-won's Doctor X Premieres October 9 with Four Character Posters

SBS released four individual character posters for Doctor X: The Age of the White Mafia on the 23rd, bringing into focus the distinct personas at the center of its medical noir world. The drop comes roughly two weeks before the show's October 9 premiere, and follows a first teaser that accumulated 1.64 million views in its first two weeks online.

The drama centers on Gye Su-jeong, a gifted surgeon known within the hospital as the "mad Gye of the operating room," who uses her surgical skill as the instrument through which a corrupt medical power structure begins to crack. Kim Ji-won, who carries the role, appears in her poster against a stark red background, her expression cold and controlled. The production is describing the character as a "medical dark hero," a framing that situates the show somewhere between the procedural and the vigilante thriller.

The ensemble around her

The other three posters fill out the world Gye Su-jeong disrupts. Lee Jung-eun plays Jang Hui-suk, the director of a veteran physician staffing agency who placed Gye at Guseo University Hospital. Her poster leans into the ambiguity of the character: a warm, familiar smile that sits uneasily with an unreadable gaze. Son Hyun-joo takes the role of Bu Seung-gwon, the hospital director who presides over an institution corroded by corruption. His poster captures a man holding institutional authority while visibly weighing it against something else, a detail that hints at whether he is obstacle or reluctant ally. Kim Woo-seok rounds out the four as Park Tae-gyeong, a surgical intern whose encounter with Gye overturns his hospital life entirely. His poster catches him mid-surprise, still in the operating theater.

The show is produced by Studio S, Studio Dragon, and Highzium Studio, a collaboration that places it firmly in SBS's tent-pole category for the second half of the year. The network has positioned it within a lineage that includes past genre hits such as Chief of Staff, Taxi Driver, Fiery Priest, and Judge from Hell, all of which performed strongly for the broadcaster.

Preview special during Chuseok

Before the October 9 premiere, the production team has arranged a two-part preview special titled Doctor X: We Begin Operating Today, which will air on the 26th at 8:30 a.m. and on the 27th at 8:35 a.m. The special is designed to introduce the show's premise and key characters ahead of the main broadcast, covering material from the first two episodes.

Doctor X: The Age of the White Mafia premieres Friday, October 9 at 9:50 p.m. on SBS, occupying the network's Friday-Saturday slot.