''Brain'' () is a 2011

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

, starring Shin Ha-kyun, Choi Jung-won, Jung Jin-young and Jo Dong-hyuk. The series revolves around a top neurosurgeon who is obsessed with success and dreams of becoming the hospital director, then finds himself embroiled in professional rivalries and an unexpected romance. The series received positive reviews, particularly for Shin Ha-kyun's performance. It aired on

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

from November 14, 2011 to January 17, 2012 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.

Plot

Lee Kang-hoon ( Shin Ha-kyun) is a

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

in his early 30s. He graduated from Korea's most prestigious

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...

with the best grades and completed his residency. Ashamed of his poor, uneducated parents, he has sworn since he was young that he will change his own fate. He chose

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and ...

, the least popular department, because there he can easily gain privileges by making connections with senior doctors. Seo Joon-suk ( Jo Dong-hyuk), who was born with everything, is the person Kang-hoon despises the most and views him as his rival. Kim Sang-chul ( Jung Jin-young) is a caring, empathetic neurosurgeon professor in his mid-50s who acts as a mentor to Yoon Ji-hye ( Choi Jung-won). Joon-suk likes Ji-hye, but she has feelings for Kang-hoon. The series takes a shocking turn when Kang-hoon learns that Sang-chul caused his father's death.

Cast

Main characters

* Shin Ha-kyun as Lee Kang-hoon : Main protagonist of the series. An arrogant neurosurgeon who lives with his mother and sister, he is haunted by the death of his father when he was a child. At first he does not like Ji-hye, but grows to have feelings for her. * Choi Jung-won as Yoon Ji-hye : A doctor who comes from a middle-class family. She is very fond of Kim Sang-chul, whom she considers her mentor. She starts to fall for Kang-hoon. * Jung Jin-young as Kim Sang-chul : Head of the hospital who cares for his patients. He has a dark past involving the accidental death of Kang-hoon's father on the surgery table, with young Kang-hoon as a witness. * Jo Dong-hyuk as Seo Joon-suk : A doctor who comes from rich family whose maid happened to be Kang-hoon's mother. He has a crush on Ji-hye. * Claudia Kim as Jang Yoo-jin : The daughter of a rich man whom Kang-hoon saved. Now she is trying to seduce Kang-hoon. Yoo-jin has a 5-year-old daughter.

Supporting characters

* Lee Sung-min - Go Jae-hak *

Ban Hyo-jung Ban Hyo-jung (born Ban Man-hee on November 27, 1942) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in 1964 with a bit part in Shin Sang-ok's film ''Rice'', and went on to a prolific career in television drama In film and televisio ...

- Hwang Young-sun *Park Chul-ho - Park In-bum * Im Ji-eun - Hong Eun-sook * Jo Soo-min - Im Hyun-jung *Kwak Seung-nam - Yang Bum-joon * Shim Hyung-tak - Jo Dae-shik * Kwon Yul - Yeo Bong-goo *

Song Ok-sook Song Ok-sook (born August 14, 1960) is a South Korean actress. She has appeared in supporting roles in numerous Korean drama, television dramas, including ''Winter Sonata'', ''Beethoven Virus'', ''More Charming by the Day'', and ''Missing You (2 ...

- Kim Soon-im, Kang-hoon's mother *

Kim Ga-eun Kim Ga-eun (born January 8, 1989) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Television series Web series Film Awards and nominations References External links * * 1989 births Living people South Korean television actresses ...

- Lee Ha-young, Kang-hoon's sister *

Kang Ye-seo Kang Ye-seo (; born August 22, 2005), better known mononymously as Yeseo, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known for competing on the Mnet survival competition show '' Girls Planet 999'' and ranking 6th in the final episode, m ...

- Choi Ryu-bi *Lee Seung-joo - Dong Seung-man *

Choi Il-hwa Choi Il-hwa (born May 9, 1959) is a South Korean actor. He joined the Madang Sesil Theatre Group in 1983, and has since continued acting in Korean theater, television and film. Filmography Film *'' No Tomorrow (2016) *'' Wonderful Nightmare'' ...

- Ahn Dong-suk *Heo Jung-gyu - Kong Duk-ki *Hong Il-kwon - Hwang Tae-sung *Ko In-beom - Jang Yoo-jin's father * Lee Hyun-woo - Park Dong-hwa (guest appearance) * Yoo Chae-yeong - Swimming instructor (guest appearance) * Marco - Man at swimming pool (guest appearance) *Lee Chan-ho - Na Jae-woong (guest appearance) *

Jeon Moo-song Jeon Moo-song (born September 28, 1941) is a South Korean actor. Jeon began his career on stage in the play 'Chunhyangjeon' in 1964 and has since been active in Korean theatre, film and television. In 1977, he performed as the title characte ...

- Kim Shin-woo (guest appearance) * Kim Young-ok - Sa Bong-ja (guest appearance) *Hwang Bum-sik - Cha Hoon-kyung (guest appearance)

Production

Lee Sang-yoon, Yoon Seung-ah, and Lee Hyun-jin were originally cast as the main characters (Lee Kang-hoon, Yoon Ji-hye and Seo Joon-suk, respectively), but after the

read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted. In addition to the ...

, the producers deemed them "too young" for their roles and the actors were subsequently fired.

Song Seung-heon Song Seung-heon (; born October 5, 1976) is a South Korean model and actor. He has acted in various television dramas, notably '' Autumn in My Heart'' (2000), '' ''East of Eden' (2008), '' ''My Princess' (2011), ''Black'' (2017), '' Player ...

and

Kim Joo-hyuk Kim Joo-hyuk (3 October 1972 – 30 October 2017) was a South Korean actor. He was known for his leading roles in the films ''My Wife Got Married'' (2008), ''The Servant'' (2010), and ''Yourself and Yours'' (2016), his supporting roles in ''Conf ...

were rumored to be offered the leading role, which eventually went to Shin Ha-kyun.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{Song Hyun-wook 2011 South Korean television series debuts 2012 South Korean television series endings Korean Broadcasting System television dramas South Korean medical television series Korean-language television shows Television series by CJ E&M