7.5/10 is my rating. Park Cheol (Kim Sang-joong) was a well known cardiac surgeon in South Korea. Dr. Park was asked to go to North Korea to perform life saving surgery on the Nation's leader. As a single father, Cheol decided to take his young son Park Hoon (Lee Jong-suk) unaware that it would be a one way trip. While spending the remaining of his growing years in North Korea, Park Hoon trained first under his father and later at a prestigious North Korean medical school to become a cardiothoracic surgeon. It was at medical school that he met Song Jae-hee (Jin See-yon) and eventually asked her to marry him. Tragic struck the young couple when Jae-hee's father was accused of spying and the entire family was sent to a concentration camp. The elites in North Korea soon discovered Hoon's genius in his field and sent him to a medical center performing highly unethical surgeries to advance medical science. Having no choice but to do as asked Hoon remained there until one day Jae-Hee and her other were brought in and he was directed to do the unthinkable. Hoon's father sacrificed himself to help the young couple escape but they became separated - Hoon made it to South Korea but Jae-hee was either dead or back in North Korea. Hoon spent all of his time and money trying to locate his lost love. A series of circumstances lead Hoon to work at Myungwoo University Hospital as a surgeon and he happened across a doctor at another hospital that looked exactly like Jae-hee but claimed not to know Hoon. This doctor, Han Seung-hee (Jin See-yon) is an anesthesiologist and she winds up working at Myungwoo University Hospital as well. Hoon is confused as to whether or not this woman is his lost girlfriend and his colleague, Oh Soo-hyun (Kang So-ra) falls for the genius doctor while trying to help him sort out the mystery.
Spoilers* I loved the character played by Lee Jong-suk of the joking but far from carefree Doctor Park. His genius in the operating theater was highly entertaining. It was easy to understand why all the main female characters would have fallen for him as he was charismatic and challenged them to be their best while encouraging and believing in them. Learning about North Korea from the aspect of someone that was under the control of the the government was a different slice of life than what is seen from a more elite perspective like in "Crash Landing on You". The fact that he was forced to do so many horrendous things and the constant fear for life and safety was in line with what refugees and those that have escaped have indicated is very common for the people there. I loved the relationship between Hoon and his father. I never felt that strongly about the relationship between Jae-hee and Hoon in North Korea it felt like we got a flash of seeing them in love and planning to marry and then she was taken away and he has to make the horrible decision of what to do with her and her father when they are brought from the concentration camp to the medical facility where they have been forcing him to do experimental surgeries on living patients. Then there is the first scene where they attempt escape and are chased down by the North Koreans and are on the bridge, she gets shot, and he winds up letting go and she falls into the water and he is unsure if she died or not. Later he is in South Korea doing small odd jobs to get enough money to get intel on her and perhaps get her smuggled out. He has a "friend" that he is working with who is a beautiful girl that calls him Hyung and treats him like an older brother. But you never get the full story of how they came to be together you just know they are very close. At that point I thought they would fill that story in later but they never fully did. The only chemistry and believable relationship to me was that between Hoon and Doctor Oh. He calls her Quack but spends a lot of time encouraging and mentoring her as a surgeon. There are many scenes where the two are shown "flirting" and laughing with each other. Jae-Hae even looks on several times noticing the two enjoying each other's company. This led me to think there would be some kind of twist. Perhaps Jae-Hae was actually dead and the Doctor that works at Hoon's hospital is an imposter who was trained and given plastic surgery to look like Jae-Hae. That would have been an interesting twist and would have enabled Hoon to pursue Dr. Oh. They spent a lot of time making the viewer observe the developing relationship between Dr. Park and Dr. Oh so much that most would not care about that old relationship between Jae-Hae and Dr. Park or Dr. Oh and her fiancé. I also was not a fan of the competition for the right to do surgery on the "Prime Minister". I could not see legitimate doctors feeling okay about that sort of competition which treated patients as objects. It was a way to show Dr. Park's humanity and aptitude for being a doctor despite the horrible things he was forced to do in his training in North Korea. However, I did not find the competition as interesting as I would have found just really complex medical cases. In the end of the show I was really disappointed that each couple wound up with the person they had started with. To stray that far from a relationship just does not speak deep and enduring love to me. I did not feel as though I had anything invested in either relationship. I also did not like how the two very talented surgeons were no longer practicing in that specialized field. It seemed as though Dr. Park was working at some kind of farm country clinic and Dr. Han or Chief Han whom he had competed with - returned to the US and was working as a legal assistant. I could not see doctors who had trained for so many years and had such passion and talent for the surgical practice, giving it up that easily. Overall I liked aspects of this show and really the acting carried it. If it hadn't been for such a phenomenal cast I would not have finished watching it as there were so many problems with the plot I would have lost interest. If someone is really into medical dramas - probably still worth the watch. It is also a good one to watch for more insight on North Korean life. For romance I think it falls very short. There is some suspense as you wonder who will wind up with whom and what the real game afoot is but the twist winds up being that there is no twist. It was predictable that the operation was really on the President and not the Prime Minister and it was not a huge surprise that Jae-Hae was really herself.
Spoilers* I loved the character played by Lee Jong-suk of the joking but far from carefree Doctor Park. His genius in the operating theater was highly entertaining. It was easy to understand why all the main female characters would have fallen for him as he was charismatic and challenged them to be their best while encouraging and believing in them. Learning about North Korea from the aspect of someone that was under the control of the the government was a different slice of life than what is seen from a more elite perspective like in "Crash Landing on You". The fact that he was forced to do so many horrendous things and the constant fear for life and safety was in line with what refugees and those that have escaped have indicated is very common for the people there. I loved the relationship between Hoon and his father. I never felt that strongly about the relationship between Jae-hee and Hoon in North Korea it felt like we got a flash of seeing them in love and planning to marry and then she was taken away and he has to make the horrible decision of what to do with her and her father when they are brought from the concentration camp to the medical facility where they have been forcing him to do experimental surgeries on living patients. Then there is the first scene where they attempt escape and are chased down by the North Koreans and are on the bridge, she gets shot, and he winds up letting go and she falls into the water and he is unsure if she died or not. Later he is in South Korea doing small odd jobs to get enough money to get intel on her and perhaps get her smuggled out. He has a "friend" that he is working with who is a beautiful girl that calls him Hyung and treats him like an older brother. But you never get the full story of how they came to be together you just know they are very close. At that point I thought they would fill that story in later but they never fully did. The only chemistry and believable relationship to me was that between Hoon and Doctor Oh. He calls her Quack but spends a lot of time encouraging and mentoring her as a surgeon. There are many scenes where the two are shown "flirting" and laughing with each other. Jae-Hae even looks on several times noticing the two enjoying each other's company. This led me to think there would be some kind of twist. Perhaps Jae-Hae was actually dead and the Doctor that works at Hoon's hospital is an imposter who was trained and given plastic surgery to look like Jae-Hae. That would have been an interesting twist and would have enabled Hoon to pursue Dr. Oh. They spent a lot of time making the viewer observe the developing relationship between Dr. Park and Dr. Oh so much that most would not care about that old relationship between Jae-Hae and Dr. Park or Dr. Oh and her fiancé. I also was not a fan of the competition for the right to do surgery on the "Prime Minister". I could not see legitimate doctors feeling okay about that sort of competition which treated patients as objects. It was a way to show Dr. Park's humanity and aptitude for being a doctor despite the horrible things he was forced to do in his training in North Korea. However, I did not find the competition as interesting as I would have found just really complex medical cases. In the end of the show I was really disappointed that each couple wound up with the person they had started with. To stray that far from a relationship just does not speak deep and enduring love to me. I did not feel as though I had anything invested in either relationship. I also did not like how the two very talented surgeons were no longer practicing in that specialized field. It seemed as though Dr. Park was working at some kind of farm country clinic and Dr. Han or Chief Han whom he had competed with - returned to the US and was working as a legal assistant. I could not see doctors who had trained for so many years and had such passion and talent for the surgical practice, giving it up that easily. Overall I liked aspects of this show and really the acting carried it. If it hadn't been for such a phenomenal cast I would not have finished watching it as there were so many problems with the plot I would have lost interest. If someone is really into medical dramas - probably still worth the watch. It is also a good one to watch for more insight on North Korean life. For romance I think it falls very short. There is some suspense as you wonder who will wind up with whom and what the real game afoot is but the twist winds up being that there is no twist. It was predictable that the operation was really on the President and not the Prime Minister and it was not a huge surprise that Jae-Hae was really herself.