With Ratings at 21%, "Doctor X" Faces Petition to Halt Broadcast Over Sudden Focus on May 18... Production CP Says "No Fear"

'Doctor X' Sparks Debate Over Use of the May 18 Democratization Movement as a Plotline
National Assembly Petition Calls for the Show to Be Taken Off Air
Calls for Production Review and Broadcast Suspension

SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama "Doctor X: The Era of the White Mafia," which has been enjoying strong popularity with a peak rating of 21.3%, has become embroiled in fierce controversy after using the May 18 Democratization Movement as a plot point. While some have praised the drama for shedding light on the suffering of May 18 victims, others have criticized it for lacking narrative flow and plausibility. A petition calling for the show to be taken off the air has also appeared in the National Assembly.

Poster for SBS drama "Doctor X: The Era of the White Mafia." SBS

Episode 6 of "Doctor X," which aired on Oct. 24, centered on the story of Oh Sang-beom (played by Ha Seong-gwang), who suffered a gunshot wound to the head in Gwangju in May 1980. Oh, who lost his older brother as a child, has lived for decades with a bullet fragment in his head, suffering from headaches, pain, hallucinations and auditory hallucinations. He had also refused treatment, burdened by guilt over never finding his brother's body.

In the drama, genius surgeon Gye Sujeong (played by Kim Jiwon) takes on the challenging operation to remove the bullet from Oh's head. Faced with the possibility that he could die or be left in a vegetative state if the surgery fails, Oh hesitates because he fears the operation could also make his brother's apparition disappear. Through his choice and trauma, the drama depicts the suffering the May 18 Democratization Movement left in an individual's life.

The broadcast also included flashback scenes set in Gwangju in 1980, as well as scenes of citizens exposed to tear gas and bullets. In one scene, a character rides Bus No. 518 to the May 18th National Cemetery. Another showed a fictional former president, Ji Dooseok, who evoked the circumstances of the time, being airlifted to a hospital while unconscious. Ji was portrayed in ways, including his appearance and characterization, that recalled former President Chun Doo-hwan.

Petition Calls for Show to Be Taken Off Air, Claiming "Political Subject Matter Unrelated to the Original"

Immediately after the broadcast, a petition titled "Petition to Stop the Broadcast of SBS Drama Doctor X" was posted on the National Assembly's e-Petition and Public Consent Petition board. The petitioner said Episode 6 included May 18-related content unrelated to the existing storyline and called for scrutiny of the production process and for the show to be taken off the air.

A scene from episode 6 of the SBS drama "Doctor X: The Era of the White Mafia." SBS

The petitioner said that while recognizing May 18 as a painful part of history, it was difficult to accept the way the medical drama addressed it, given the political debate surrounding specific details. The petitioner also argued that adding the related content to the Korean version, unlike the Japanese original, which focuses on the doctor's individual abilities and achievements, appeared to be a plot device intended to express a particular political position. The petitioner called for the production team to be summoned as witnesses before the National Assembly to explain how the episode was made, and for the relevant broadcast review body to examine the matter.

"Shedding Light on Historical Trauma" vs. "Lack of Narrative Plausibility"

Viewers were divided in their reactions. Some said the episode was meaningful for shedding light on the physical and mental suffering that survivors of May 18 continue to endure decades later. Others criticized it for making the story feel abrupt and implausible, saying that, unlike earlier episodes, which focused on surgery and problems within the hospital, Episode 6 gave much greater prominence to historical and political narratives.

Some online posts also speculated about the production team's intentions, citing details such as the bus number. However, Bus No. 518 is an actual city bus route in Gwangju and is listed as an available form of transportation in information for visitors to the May 18th National Cemetery.

CP Says "No Fear"... Drama Posts Its Highest Ratings Amid Controversy

Amid the continuing controversy, Lee Okgyu, a supervising producer (CP) at Studio S, which produced "Doctor X," posted a poster for the drama on social media on Oct. 24, the day Episode 6 aired, with the words "no fear." However, Lee did not explain what the phrase specifically meant, so it is unclear whether it was a statement on the controversy.

Meanwhile, ratings hit a series high despite the controversy. According to Nielsen Korea, Episode 6 posted a nationwide household rating of 19.5%, up 2.0 percentage points from 17.5% for the previous episode. The rating in the Seoul metropolitan area was 19.2%, while the peak minute-by-minute rating reached 21.3%.

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