"What Is May 18 Doing in a Medical Drama?"... Petition to Suspend "Doctor X" Broadcast

Petitioner: "Political issues should not be used in dramas"
CP posts "no fear" on social media immediately after broadcast

A petition calling for the suspension of SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama "Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia" has appeared in the National Assembly, accusing the series of bringing political subject matter into a medical drama by featuring the 5·18 Democratic Uprising in its storyline.

According to the National Assembly e-Petitions platform’s public consent petitions, a petition titled "Petition to Suspend the Broadcast of SBS Drama Doctor X," posted the previous day, met the 100-signature threshold required for publication before being made public, and is now under review for publication. The petitioner called for a review of the drama’s production process and for its broadcast to be suspended.

SBS Friday-Saturday drama "Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia." Courtesy of SBS.

The petitioner claimed, "Episode 6 of 'Doctor X' included content related to 5·18 that had nothing to do with the story, making many viewers uncomfortable." The petitioner went on to say, "5·18 is undeniably a 'political issue' over which political debate continues in some areas, including differences in perspective between the ruling and opposition parties, and the views of the left and right also differ to some extent. While no one disputes, broadly speaking, that it was a painful chapter in history, it is difficult to understand why 5·18, which remains politically contested in specific respects, was brought into the drama out of the blue." The petitioner also called for the production team to be summoned as witnesses before the National Assembly to examine the production process, and for relevant broadcast review bodies to conduct an assessment.

The scene at the center of the controversy appeared in episode 6, which aired the previous day. In the drama, Oh Sangbeom (played by Ha Seonggwang) is a man who was shot in the head during the 5·18 Democratic Uprising and has lived with pain and hallucinations ever since. Through Oh Sangbeom’s story, which also involves the guilt he carries over losing his older brother as a child, the drama depicts the scars left by the pro-democracy movement. A fictional former president reminiscent of the figure in power at the time also appears in the series. As the story juxtaposes the victim’s suffering with the circumstances of those in power, some praised the drama for weaving historical pain into its narrative, while others criticized it for allowing political interpretations to intrude excessively.

A post shared on social media by the chief producer (CP) after the broadcast also drew attention. Lee Okgyu, CP at Studio S, which produced "Doctor X," posted a drama poster on October 24 along with the words "no fear." Lee did not separately explain the specific meaning of the phrase.

Amid the controversy, "Doctor X" set a new personal best in ratings. According to Nielsen Korea, episode 6 of "Doctor X" recorded a nationwide household rating of 19.5%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.