By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
A string of medical dramas, including ``Behind the White Tower" (MBC) and ``Doctor Bong" (SBS), have recently swept the Korean drama scene. However, these dramas would not have been possible if not for ``General Hospital," the first medical drama in Korea. After 14 years, ``General Hospital'' is returning.
Familiar faces from season one _ Lee Jae-ryong, Cho Kyoung-hwan and Kim So-hee _ are on aboard for the second season 2. Lee is no longer a struggling first-year resident but a mature, self-possessed staff doctor. Cho retains his position as general surgeon while Kim is now the head nurse.
The spotlight is now on the new first-year residents _ Kim Jung-eun plays Jung Ha-yoon, Cha Tae-hyun plays Choi Jin-sang and Ryu Jin plays Baek Hyun-woo. Ha-yoon is a law school graduate with an ulterior motive. Having passed the bar exam, she joins the medical profession only to become a medical malpractice litigation specialist.
Her agenda is to look at the hospital from a patient's point of view and to expose the doctors' hypocrisy. But as she works shoulder-to-shoulder with her colleagues, she gradually becomes a real doctor. Joining Ha-yoon is Jin-sang, a regular troublemaker who has fumbled his way through medical school, just to live up to the expectations of his toiling mother. His knack for trouble continues, especially with Ha-yoon at his side.
Baek Hyun-woo is the ultimate elite doctor, but he's got no heart, figuratively speaking. He warms up to Ha-yoon though, helping her in some of her wild adventures, yet is unable to explain his mixed feelings towards her.
``I wanted to avoid all the politics and power play dominant in American and Japanese medical dramas and focus more on human relationships between doctors and patients,'' said producer Noh Doo-chul at a press conference held last week.
He also added that ``the characters here are more realistic and multi-dimensional. For one, Ha-yoon's character starts off from a unique position as an aspiring lawyer that strives to reveal medical hypocrisy. Jin-sang is also an aberrant character that adds diversity to the conservative image of doctors while Hyun-woo is a figure that embraces both elitist aloofness and human compassion. As such, there is no simple black-or-white conflict but a more complicated and realistic portrayal of characters and relationships.''
This is Cha and Kim's second medical drama together. Different from their doctor-patient relationship in the 1998 drama ``Sunflower'' (MBC), this time they meet as resident colleagues. But they said that they intend to keep the previous drama's comical element. ``Cha and I have a wonderful chemistry together and we see no reason to avoid this playful aspect of our relationship, since it's what we think the audience will enjoy as well,'' Kim said.
``General Hospital 2" will start Nov. 19, Wednesday, 9:55 p.m. on MBC.