Kim Ji-won's First Variety Appearance in 10 Years Lands on Yu Quiz Before October Drama

Kim Ji-won taped an episode of Yu Quiz on the Block on the 16th, marking her first broadcast variety appearance in roughly ten years. tvN confirmed the booking to Xports News the same day, noting that the air date has not yet been set.

The last time Kim Ji-won and host Yoo Jae-suk shared a variety stage was in 2016, when she appeared on SBS's Running Man alongside co-star Jin-goo to promote the KBS 2TV drama Descendants of the Sun. In the years since, her public appearances outside of dramas have been relatively sparse, and largely tied to specific projects: a 2024 run on the YouTube talk show Salon Drip 2 with Kim Soo-hyun and Park Sung-hoon, and a slot on tvN's Amazing Saturday with Kwak Dong-yeon, both timed around Queen of Tears.

That pattern matters here. Kim Ji-won tends to do variety when she has something to say about a project, which makes the timing of this Yu Quiz taping a fairly clear signal.

What she's coming back with

The appearance sets up her return to scripted television after roughly two years away from the small screen since Queen of Tears. Her next project is Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia, a new SBS Friday-Saturday drama described as a medical noir. She plays Gye Su-jeong, a cold-blooded surgical genius who takes on systemic corruption inside the medical establishment. The drama is scheduled to premiere in October.

The role is a deliberate shift from the emotional register of Queen of Tears, and the Yu Quiz setting, which tends toward candid, conversational interviews rather than physical games, is well suited to letting her explain that shift in her own words. Whether the episode airs before or after the drama's premiere will depend on what tvN and her team decide works better for the promotional window, the broadcaster gave no timeline beyond confirming the taping.