Kim Ji-won. Photo: TVN, courtesy of Han Cinema.
Popular Korean actress Kim Ji-won has been offered the role of Korea’s first female detective, Park Mi-ok. Her agency, High Zium Studio, has confirmed the offer is being considered, with a final decision still pending as Kim reviews it.
The drama narrates the story of Park Mi-ok, who, in 1987, joined Korea’s police force, shattering the stereotypes in the field. The 1988 Olympics set the stage for her work as a homicide detective, testing her skills in ways she never could have imagined.
With writer Chung Seo-kyung and director Kim Hee-won bringing Park’s experiences to life, the upcoming drama, Detective Park Mi-ok, promises to be a compelling narrative of her journey—a testament to her experience as a woman in a male-dominated world and the moments that defined her, what she overcame, and what she achieved.
According to an article in Maeil Business Newspaper, Park Mi-ok opened up about her career on KBS2’s Park Won-sook’s Let’s Live Together Season 3. She shared the difficulties she faced as a woman in her workplace, from her early days as a traffic policewoman to her time in the female criminal task force.
After dedicating almost 20 years to public service and rising through the ranks to become a superintendent, Park Mi-ok’s life has already inspired K-dramas like H.I.T. (2007) and Signal (2016), and now taking center stage in Detective Park Mi-ok, with Kim Ji-won poised to play the eponymous role.
The project follows Kim Ji-won’s next, Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia, a medical crime noir drama where she plays Kye Su-jeong, a brilliant and feisty doctor, but with a troubled past and a fair share of professional enemies. Nonetheless, Su-jeong excels in the operating room, using her exceptional surgical skills to hold her own against the odds.
Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia marks Kim Ji-won’s K-drama comeback after the massive success of Queen of Tears (2024), where she co-starred with Kim Soo-hyun.
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