(Following Interview①) ‘Unsolved Cases’ faced significant challenges even before its airing. The airing was continuously delayed amid the turmoil of the resident doctor crisis in response to the unilateral medical policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol government.
Originally scheduled to air in the first half of 2024, ‘Unsolved Cases’ was pushed to August, and later announced as “date undecided.” After two delays, ‘Unsolved Cases’ finally began airing on April 12.
The project started filming in 2023 and wrapped up around May of the previous year. As a pre-produced work, it seems the actors who were waiting for its airing were also feeling uneasy.
Go Yoon-jung cautiously mentioned, “I had already confirmed my next project while filming ‘Unsolved Cases,’ so I started shooting my next project just three days after finishing this one. I didn’t have much time to think about the gap.”
She added, “My mom loves watching me on TV. Last year, she couldn’t see me on TV, right? She has been rewatching what I’ve done so far.”
The issue of resident doctor numbers continues this year. Among the resigned residents, only one obstetrics and gynecology resident expressed a willingness to return. Additionally, only one resident applied for obstetrics and gynecology this year. In this social atmosphere, some netizens reacted by saying, “Isn’t this a fantasy?”
Go Yoon-jung said, “It’s unfortunate that Oi-young keeps quitting…” She continued, “As you will see in the drama, the main story is about a first-year resident who is very lacking and gradually grows. I was worried about how the reaction would be. I thought that as we see the growth narrative, the reaction might improve.”
She further expressed her confidence in the work, saying, “It depicts the process of people who don’t yet seem like doctors, who are clumsy. There are many family stories as well. I didn’t have those kinds of worries that the viewers might have.”
What does she think about the audience's reaction to ‘Unsolved Cases’? Is there any disappointment about the romance overshadowing the medical drama aspect?
Go Yoon-jung replied, “The title itself is ‘Someday, a Wise Resident Life,’ right? I didn’t expect it to be recognized as professional, skilled, and deeply medical. (From an expert's perspective) there are mistakes that a first-year resident shouldn’t be making, and there are more than I imagined. Since it’s a growth narrative, I aimed to portray the development and growth even if it’s a bit lacking.”
She continued, “In fact, medical terminology was difficult, but since it’s a first-year resident and they should be clumsy, the director gave direction saying, ‘I hope you don’t look too good.’ So, using medical terms wasn’t that hard.”
In the drama, Oi-young is a character who doesn’t want to socialize and finds it hard to interact with others.
Go Yoon-jung laughed, saying, “Aren’t all first-year obstetrics and gynecology residents too extreme? I don’t think I should be like Oi-young.” She continued, “I think I started off like Oi-young. I had the desire to do well at work, but I didn’t have the motivation to impress anyone. While working, I realized that human relationships are important.” She added, “(Now) I think I’m mixing the social life of Oi-young and Um Jae-il (played by Kang Yoo-seok). I thought I didn’t care about others, but I actually like people. Now I think I’m mixed with the person who likes people, Um Jae-il.”
This work features many actors from ‘Hospital Playlist’ in cameo roles. Go Yoon-jung said, “It felt like watching my seniors’ drama,” and added, “We are their juniors. I thought they would try to maintain their dignity in front of us juniors, but even when they made mistakes, they quickly accepted it, saying, ‘I’ll do it again just once,’ and they didn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed. That was really cool. I thought my seniors like Jung Kyung-ho and Ahn Eun-jin were amazing. When we started filming, I felt the atmosphere change even before we started our lines.”
Go Yoon-jung joined the Shin Won-ho team with this project. She expressed her gratitude, saying, “The director took great care of me. He often came to the set and treated me like a daughter or son. It was really nice.”
She added, “Director Shin Won-ho acts really well. They say drama directors are good, and he really is, so it was amazing to watch him act on set.”
Finally, Go Yoon-jung expressed her hope that those who haven’t seen the work yet will watch it through OTT platforms.
“It contains a lot of Korean culture, like eating soy sauce crab and tteokbokki. I thought there would be many emotions that Koreans could relate to, so I hoped they would enjoy it. However, since there are newcomers in every country, I hope that viewers can reflect on their own immature selves and enjoy the fact that even if they are lacking, they can grow.”
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
