Kim Ji-won’s ‘doctor X’ Hits 18.5% Ratings, Peaks At 20.8% In Episode 4

The SBS medical drama sets a new personal best as Gye Su-jeong’s emergency-room assignment puts her instincts and resolve to the test.

Kim Ji-won’s Doctor X has crossed the 20% mark in peak viewership just four episodes into its run.

The October 17 broadcast earned an average nationwide household rating of 18.5%, with 18.4% in the Seoul metropolitan area and a peak of 20.8%, according to Nielsen Korea figures reported by Sports Kyunghyang.

The results marked a new high for the SBS drama, placing it first in its time slot and among both Saturday miniseries and the week’s miniseries overall.

On screen, Kim’s surgeon Gye Su-jeong continued to challenge a hospital where reputation and internal calculations can take priority over patient care.

Kim Ji-won’s ‘Doctor X’ Surpasses 20% Peak Viewership After Just Four Episodes / SBS

An Emergency-Room Assignment Reveals Her Priorities

Episodes three and four, broadcast on October 16 and 17, moved Su-jeong into an understaffed emergency room.

The new assignment gave her little room to ease into the job. Faced with a patient who urgently needed blood, she stepped forward to donate herself. Elsewhere, her ability to recognize subtle symptoms became crucial to identifying danger before others noticed it.

The scenes developed a consistent part of her character: her confidence comes with close attention to the people in front of her.

A Hospital Cleaner’s Symptoms Become a Turning Point

One of the most consequential moments involved cleaning worker Yeo Jeong-sun, played by Shin Hye-kyung.

Su-jeong remembered something unusual about Jeong-sun’s movements after a chance encounter. Concerned, she went looking for her early in the morning and discovered that she had collapsed.

Finding her quickly preserved the critical window for treatment.

The sequence placed Su-jeong’s observational skills alongside her surgical ability. Her intervention began with remembering a small detail about a worker who might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

Kim Ji-won’s ‘Doctor X’ Surpasses 20% Peak Viewership After Just Four Episodes / SBS

‘I Do Not Fail’

Su-jeong’s declaration, “I do not fail,” captures the certainty she brings to her work.

The latest episodes supported that confidence with decisive action. While senior figures weighed the hospital’s interests, she concentrated on identifying what patients needed and responding without hesitation.

Her confrontations were not limited to medical emergencies. She also challenged professors who offered excuses for their absence, delivering pointed criticism in her characteristically measured manner.

That restraint gives her defiance its particular force. Su-jeong rarely needs to raise her voice to expose the gap between authority and responsibility.

Jang Seung-jo’s Arrival Adds Another Source of Tension

The episodes also introduced a developing dynamic with Na Dae-il, played by Jang Seung-jo, following his transfer to surgery.

Their exchanges brought a mixture of professional friction and personal curiosity. SBS’s official episode-four clips highlight Dae-il provoking Su-jeong and the two working together during an operation.

The relationship adds another question to the hospital drama: how will someone with Su-jeong’s uncompromising approach respond to a colleague willing to challenge her directly?

Doctor X airs on SBS every Friday and Saturday at 9:50 p.m. KST.

Editor’s Note: Kim Ji-won’s Shift From Corporate Power to Medical Authority

International audiences may know Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in in the 2024 drama Queen of Tears.

Netflix’s official guide identifies Hae-in as a Queens Group executive whose marriage to Baek Hyun-woo, played by Kim Soo-hyun, forms the center of the story.

SBS presents Doctor X around a gifted doctor confronting an institution controlled by powerful interests. The role gives Kim another commanding character, with authority grounded in medical expertise rather than family position.

From an editorial perspective, the emergency-room storyline sharpens that distinction. Su-jeong’s credibility depends on what she notices and does for patients, including those with little influence inside the hospital.