Rain And Kim Beom Get A Little Too Close In Buddy Drama ‘Ghost Doctor’

The Korean drama Ghost Doctor is a ghost story—sort of—but it’s also the story of two doctors, who get close, maybe too close, despite not initially liking each other. Rain plays Cha Young-min, an arrogant star surgeon, who develops a strong dislike for a new doctor on his team. That book-smart but procedure-shy new doctor named Go Seung-tak is played by Kim Beom.

When making hospital rounds, Seung-tak spends most of his time trying to avoid participating. He lacks the confidence to physically take on emergencies even though he can cite textbook diagnoses with ease. He doesn’t have to try hard since he’s related to the head of the hospital and will one day take over. That’s another reason his coworker doesn’t like him.

When Young-min has an accident that lands him in a coma, he becomes a temporary ghost, haunting the hospital halls. He finds that the only way he can effectively do anything is by temporarily possessing Seung-tak and using his hands. It’s not something he’s eager to do, but he discovers that his own life is in danger and he needs to act—even if it means using Seung-tak.

Seung-tak, on the other hand, gets a lot out of being temporarily possessed. He can suddenly perform surgeries and emergency treatments he previously could not attempt. His new confidence causes the other doctors to reassess his abilities, but also to become wary of his Jekyll and Hyde transformations.

Ideally, the two doctors can work together to solve some of the hospital administration’s darkest secrets, but first they need to find a way to communicate. Talking to each other is something they would not have bothered to do if they were not forced to fuse bodies.

Like many dramas, it’s a story of two very different individuals finding commonality and as such it makes fun of how important each character thinks he is on his own. Singer-dancer Rain, best known for dramas such as Come Back Mister and Welcome 2 Life and films such as Ninja Assassin and Race To Freedom, displays comic talent in expressing his character’s frustration. His extreme reactions serve as an amusing foil to Kim Beom’s laid-back delivery. Beom has appeared in a host of dramas including Boys Over Flowers, Padam Padam, That Winter The Wind Blows, Law School and Tale of The Nine-Tailed, but he’s funnier in this drama than those roles might have suggested. 

The drama also stars Uee as Young-min’s doctor ex and Son Na-eun, who was so good in Lost, as Seung-tak’s friend and fellow doctor. 

Will the two doctors become actual buddies when Young-min wakes up from his coma? Maybe. Whether or not they become friends, they will have had an opportunity to learn a lot from each other.