“Doctor X” First Look: Lee Jung Eun Is the Deal-Maker Kim Ji Won Never Saw Coming

A money-obsessed staffing agency boss who talks nonstop and somehow still runs circles around everyone in the room — that’s Lee Jung Eun’s Jang Hee Sook, and SBS just gave fans their first real look at her in “Doctor X.”

What’s Doctor X About?

Kim Ji-won leads this medical noir as Gye Soo Jung, a genius surgeon who proves her worth through pure skill alone while operating inside a corruption-riddled hospital system. Based on the hit Japanese series of the same name, “Doctor X” trades typical medical-drama sentimentality for something sharper and more cynical.

Who Is Jang Hee Sook?

On the surface, she’s loud, materialistic, and endlessly talkative — the kind of character who seems easy to underestimate. But the new stills tell a different story. Whether she’s flashing a polished “capitalist smile” while handing over a business card, or sitting stone-faced at a negotiation table, Jang Hee Sook reveals herself as a shrewd strategist who built her business on cunning people skills, not luck.

According to the production team, Lee Jung Eun “skillfully crosses the line between humor and seriousness” to bring the character to life — and her dynamic with Gye Soo Jung promises to be one of the show’s most compelling threads, described as something between contractual partners and an unlikely aunt-niece bond.

Why This Casting Works

Lee Jung Eun and Kim Ji Won aren’t strangers to sharing a set — their chemistry here follows a broader pattern of SBS building out strong ensemble casts around its female leads this season, a trend also visible in the network’s upcoming romance drama “A Love Other Than Yours”, which is generating similar buzz around its supporting cast dynamics.

When to Watch?

“Doctor X” premieres October 9 at 9:50 p.m. KST on SBS. In the meantime, catch Lee Jung Eun in “A Hundred Memories,” streaming on Viki.

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