Netflix has greenlit its upcoming medical series “First Doctor,” featuring an ensemble cast that includes Jung Ryeo-won, Ha Yoon-kyung, Bek Hyun-jin, Kim Jong-soo, and Kim Mu-yeol.
The series marks the reunion of director Hong Jong-chan and writer Kim Min-suk, the creative duo behind the legal drama “Juvenile Justice”. The narrative centers on a pediatric surgery unit on the verge of closure, following the healthcare professionals who work to protect young patients amid institutional instability.
For viewers who have been tracking the gritty, systemic focus of the creative duo’s previous collaboration, this medical setting offers familiar territory for institutional critique.
Jung Ryeo-won stars as Heo Ji-wan, a pediatric surgeon labeled the hospital’s ultimate troublemaker due to her uncompromising personality. After an unexpected incident, she returns to Yeonhwa University Hospital to protect the struggling department and its young patients.
There, she clashes with Ha Yoon-kyung’s Ki Eun-gyeol, a confident and sharp-witted third-year resident whose talent and rebellious streak set up a tense mentor-mentee dynamic. Ha previously appeared in “Hospital Playlist” Season 2, making “First Doctor” another medical drama credit in her filmography.
The hospital’s administrative conflicts are anchored by veteran actors Baek Hyun-jin as Head of Surgery Son Sang-baek and Kim Jong-soo as Vice Director Lee Chang-gon.
Kim Mu-yeol also joins the cast as Bae Su-wol, an anesthesiology professor and longtime confidant of Heo Ji-wan. The project marks Kim Moo-yul’s third collaboration with director Hong Jong-chan, following “Juvenile Justice” and “Teach You a Lesson.”
This article was written with the help of A.I., based on a Netflix Newsroom story, and was reviewed and edited by the Hallyu Dorama team.