SBS medical drama 《Doctor X: Mafia in White》 opened in double digits, recording a nationwide viewership rating of 11.4% when it premiered on Friday. According to Nielsen Korea (닐슨코리아), the rating in the Seoul metropolitan area was 11.2%, and the peak rating was 12.9%. It was the highest first-episode rating among miniseries that premiered in 2026.

At the center of the series is surgeon Gye Su-jeong, played by Kim Ji-won. Also known as ‘Doctor X,’ Gye takes on corruption within the hospital with her outstanding surgical skills and her refusal to accept failure or compromise.

Background and context

In the first episode, Gye appears as a temporary doctor assigned to Gu Seo University Hospital. As she takes on the hospital’s hierarchy and corruption, she also demonstrates her surgical skills, establishing the central conflict the drama will explore.

The series takes aim at doctors who pursue power and personal gain within the hospital. The article describes it as a rare example of a medical drama with a female lead.

What this news means

Viewership ratings indicate how many viewers a first episode attracted. The nationwide rating of 11.4% and the Seoul metropolitan area rating of 11.2% cover different regions, while 12.9% is the first episode’s peak rating. These figures alone cannot establish the drama’s subsequent performance or viewers’ opinions of it.

The series centers on an accomplished individual doctor taking on the hospital’s hierarchy and corruption. This premise shows that medical dramas can place not only patient care but also power and competing interests within medical institutions at the heart of the story. However, the information available does not tell us how the conflict introduced in the first episode will develop.

For example, viewers interested in how corruption within a hospital is portrayed can confirm that the first episode introduced Gye Su-jeong’s confrontation with the institution and her surgical skills. But how that confrontation will turn out is not yet an established fact.

The first episode also includes a scene in which Gye and Jang Hee-sook, played by Lee Jeong-eun, encounter a customer who suddenly complains of pain and collapses. The source does not say what happened to the customer afterward. The outcome of this scene cannot be presented as part of the drama’s plot by speculation.

What is confirmed and what remains unknown

Confirmed facts

  • 《Doctor X: Mafia in White》 premiered on SBS on Friday.
  • Kim Ji-won plays Gye Su-jeong, an accomplished surgeon known as ‘Doctor X.’
  • The first episode recorded a nationwide viewership rating of 11.4%, a Seoul metropolitan area rating of 11.2%, and a peak rating of 12.9%.
  • Gye Su-jeong appears as a temporary doctor assigned to Gu Seo University Hospital and takes on the hospital’s hierarchy and corruption.

What remains unknown

  • What happened afterward to the customer who suddenly complained of pain and collapsed.
  • When subsequent episodes of the drama will air.
  • How Gye Su-jeong’s efforts to take on the hospital’s corruption, and their outcome, will unfold.

What readers should check

  • When comparing the ratings, distinguish between the nationwide, Seoul metropolitan area, and peak figures, as they are different measures.
  • The article does not give the schedule for subsequent episodes, so anyone seeking confirmation can check SBS’s official programming information.
  • It is best not to draw conclusions about what happened to the customer who collapsed or how the conflict within the hospital will develop based only on information about the first episode.