Kim So-hyun pays tribute to late director An Pan-seok as 'Love Doctor' premieres on ENA

A posthumous premiere, ten weeks in the making

Love Doctor (연애박사) hit ENA on October 5 at 10 PM. It was the last drama directed by An Pan-seok, who died in August following a cerebral hemorrhage. New episodes air Mondays and Tuesdays in the same slot.

Kim So-hyun plays Lim Yu-jin, a master's student adrift until she finds her footing again. Choo Young-woo is Park Min-jae, a doctoral student who swam competitively in high school before illness took one of his legs. The two meet inside a robot research lab, where their romance unfolds as "spicy, bitter, and sweet."

"I will never forget everything I heard and learned from him"

Kim So-hyun posted a statement on premiere day. "I will never forget everything I heard and learned from the late director An Pan-seok, whom I respect," she wrote. Receiving the script for the first time. The worries during filming. Every moment of crying and laughing together—all of it comes back to her vividly now.

On her own work, she didn't hold back: she's "full of regret" she didn't do better, but she believes the director would have said it was good enough as is. That thought makes her miss him even more.

"I will watch the first broadcast with gratitude, as all directors, staff, and actors did their best for Love Doctor."

(An Pan-seok previously directed My Mister and Something in the Rain, so his name alone was enough to put this one on people's radar before production even wrapped.)

The drama continues its Monday-Tuesday run on ENA.