The Morning Calm Post

Actor Kim Yunwoo reflected on the changes he experienced while playing Yong Jucheon in ENA’s Monday-Tuesday drama Doctor on the Edge during a post-finale interview. After portraying a character with heavier emotional weight in his previous drama My Dearest, Kim showed a different side of his acting through the bright and innocent Korean medicine doctor he played in this series.

Actor Kim Yunwoo revealed a new face through Doctor on the Edge. ENA’s Monday-Tuesday drama Doctor on the Edge is a medical human romance centered on Do Jiui, a public health doctor who arrives on the remote island of Pyeondongdo, and nurse Yuk Hari, following the characters as they confront their wounds and move toward recovery. The drama ended on July 7, with Kim Yunwoo playing Yong Jucheon, a Korean medicine doctor.

Yong Jucheon is written as a doctor who comes from a family background tied to a well-known Korean medicine clinic, yet serves as a public health doctor at a remote island health center. Kim explained that he approached the character through the ideas of simplicity, clarity, and harmlessness. Yong Jucheon is not especially quick-witted, but he is free of malice, and the fact that he grew up receiving a great deal of love became an important part of the character. Kim also said that he is shy and introverted in real life, meaning there was a considerable distance between himself and Yong Jucheon.

That distance became an acting challenge for Kim. In MBC’s My Dearest, he played Ryang Eum, a character defined by delicate and heavy emotions, particularly through his relationship with Namgoong Min’s character. By contrast, Yong Jucheon in Doctor on the Edge required a lighter rhythm. Kim joined the project after going through auditions and meetings with the director, and he recalled building the character on set with help from director Lee Myungwoo, senior actors, and the production staff.

Within the drama, Yong Jucheon also formed a secondary couple with nurse Eom Jeongseon, becoming another emotional axis of the story. Speaking about his chemistry with Lee Sookyung, Kim said they prepared scenes together through rehearsals even outside filming. While his previous projects often showed youthful one-sided love or relationships closer to bromance, he placed meaning on the fact that this project allowed him to portray a full-fledged romance between a man and a woman in their twenties. However, the character dynamics and scene interpretations should be understood within the drama’s narrative, and there is no confirmed basis for extending them to the actor’s real life.

Preparing to play a Korean medicine doctor was also a distinct experience for Kim. He said he met real Korean medicine doctors and learned movements related to acupuncture as part of his preparation for the medical role. The project also connected with a personal childhood memory: he once dreamed of becoming a nurse. Kim said that when he was in elementary school, a friend who helped him led him to think about working in health and welfare. Later, during high school, he was introduced to acting through the encouragement of friends around him, and he became interested in the process of discovering himself through different roles, eventually choosing the path of an actor.

One word Kim repeatedly mentioned in the interview was “growth.” He said Doctor on the Edge helped him bring out a bright side he had thought he did not have, and taught him that even an imperfect person can be beautiful. That idea also connects to the drama’s broader message. Set in the limited space of a remote island, Doctor on the Edge followed characters who endured their own deficiencies and gradually changed. Yong Jucheon, too, may initially seem light, but through his relationships, he reveals responsibility and affection, functioning as a character who grows over time.

Since his debut in 2021, Kim Yunwoo has steadily expanded his range through various projects. If My Dearest was a work that allowed him to show deep emotional expression, Doctor on the Edge will remain a project that tested his bright energy, romance acting, and everyday performance within a medical setting. Kim himself remained modest, saying he still has much to learn. Even so, this drama may be remembered as a turning point in his filmography, one that helped him move beyond a single fixed image.