# Emergency Couple (응급남녀)
**Emergency Couple** (응급남녀; *Eunggeubnamnyeo*) is a 2014 South Korean medical romantic comedy television series broadcast on the cable channel tvN, in which a couple divorced six years earlier meet again as late-starting interns in the same hospital emergency room.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) • [2](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/119couple/) It was directed by Kim Cheol-kyu, written by Choi Yoon-jung, and starred [Song Ji-hyo](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-ji-hyo) and [Choi Jin-hyuk](https://www.edgepedia.org/choi-jin-hyuk).[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | Emergency Couple (응급남녀 / Eunggeubnamnyeo)[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) |
| Network and slot | tvN, Fridays and Saturdays at 20:50[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) |
| Broadcast period | January 24 to April 5, 2014[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) |
| Episodes | 21, extended by one from a planned 20 because of the drama's popularity[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) |
| Director / writer | Kim Cheol-kyu / Choi Yoon-jung[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) |
| Leads | Song Ji-hyo as Oh Jin-hee; Choi Jin-hyuk as Oh Chang-min[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) |
| Genre | Medical romantic comedy about a divorced couple reunited as emergency room interns[2](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/119couple/) |
## Premise
The story follows Oh Jin-hee and Oh Chang-min, who married young against his family's wishes and then divorced. Six years later they meet again at a friend's wedding, he delivering the congratulatory speech and she playing the wedding march, and the next day both report for their first day of work as interns in the same hospital emergency room.[3](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/emergency-couple/episodes/4772637) tvN's own program description frames the series as a romantic comedy in which the former couple, who divorced six years earlier, meet again as late-starting interns.[2](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/119couple/)
The backstory, as summarized by AsianWiki, is that Jin-hee worked as a dietitian before marrying Chang-min, a medical student from a family of doctors. His family opposed the marriage and cut off support, so Chang-min gave up his medical internship and worked as a pharmaceutical salesman. The marriage failed, and after the divorce Jin-hee studied medicine and became an intern, while Chang-min also completed medical school and began interning, leading to their reunion in the emergency room.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple)
At the January 21, 2014 production press conference held at a hotel in Gangnam, Seoul, director Kim Cheol-kyu described the drama as the story of a man and woman who loved each other passionately in a careless youth, parted, and then meet again and discover each other's new charms, strengths, and human virtues as they grow.[4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20140121108600005)
## Cast and characters
The main cast, with their character names:[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple)
- **Song Ji-hyo** as Oh Jin-hee, a 33-year-old intern[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) • [5](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Emergency_Couple_%28tvN%29)
- **Choi Jin-hyuk** as Oh Chang-min
- **Lee Pil-mo** as Kook Cheon-soo, the emergency room chief, whom the first episode introduces as the "ER devil" who puts the hungover Jin-hee firmly in her place on her first day[6](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/119couple/episodes/)
- **Choi Yeo-jin** as Sim Ji-hye
- **Clara** as Han A-reum
The supporting cast included Lim Hyun-sung, Chun Min-hee, Lee Mi-young, Jeon Soo-jin, and Kang Shin-il, among others.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) The series also drew on the leads' variety-show connections: Kang Gary, Song Ji-hyo's fellow cast member on the show *Running Man* since 2010, made a cameo appearance as a driver in episode six, and other cameos included Narsha and the band DickPunks.[7](https://internationalfangirl.blogspot.com/2014/04/review-emergency-couple.html)
## Production and broadcast
Filming began in December 2013, and the first script reading took place on December 20, 2013 at the CJ E&M Center in the Sangam neighborhood of Seoul.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) The drama took over tvN's Friday and Saturday 20:50 time slot from the hit series *Reply 1994*, and it was followed in the slot by *Gabdong: The Serial Killer* on April 11, 2014.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) Yonhap News described it as tvN's follow-up to the *Reply 1994* phenomenon, a story of a divorced couple who reunite as emergency room interns and grow by learning to communicate with each other.[4](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20140121108600005)
Production did not run entirely to schedule. Episode 8, originally set to air on Saturday, February 15, 2014, was postponed to Friday, February 21 because filming had fallen behind.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple) As the run progressed, the network extended the series by one episode, from 20 to 21, with the final episode airing on April 5, 2014.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple)
The production company Keyeast later listed the January 2014 broadcast of *Emergency Couple* among its drama production credits in a 2023 corporate analysis.[8](https://www.paxnet.co.kr/WWW/data/researchCenter/attach/20230228113457980.pdf)
## Reception
Contemporary and later reactions divided over how the medical and comic elements mixed. A first-impressions review published in February 2014 found the tone uneven, noting that the emergency room intern storyline at times felt like a standard medical drama and made the reviewer forget the show was also meant to be a romantic comedy, while still crediting the two leads with chemistry as a bickering couple.[9](https://blacksesame88.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/first-impressions-emergency-couple/) A French-language review praised the balance of humor, romance, and medical material, judging it a quality medical romantic comedy that did not take itself too seriously, though it suggested the story would have been better at 18 episodes than 21.[10](https://booksandramas.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/k-drama-emergency-couple-2014/) An American reviewer who disliked the series wrote that it averaged about 5% rating shares throughout its run.[11](https://www.kdramalove.com/EmergencyCouple.html)
Among international viewers the drama retained a following years after broadcast. In the comment section on AsianWiki, recurring themes included preference for the pairing of Jin-hee with the emergency room chief over her ex-husband, and the view that 16 episodes would have been sufficient, with several commenters calling parts of the later run filler.[1](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple)
## References
1. [Emergency Couple, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/Emergency_Couple)
2. [응급남녀 프로그램 페이지, tvN](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/119couple/)
3. [응급남녀 1회, TheTVDB](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/emergency-couple/episodes/4772637)
4. [<'돌싱' 부부의 재회 로맨스 …tvN '응급남녀'>, 연합뉴스 (Yonhap News), January 21, 2014](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20140121108600005)
5. [Emergency Couple (tvN), DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Emergency_Couple_%28tvN%29)
6. [응급남녀 미리보기, tvN](https://tvn.cjenm.com/ko/119couple/episodes/)
7. [Review: Emergency Couple, International Fangirl, April 22, 2014](https://internationalfangirl.blogspot.com/2014/04/review-emergency-couple.html)
8. [키이스트 기업분석 (2023.02.28), Paxnet](https://www.paxnet.co.kr/WWW/data/researchCenter/attach/20230228113457980.pdf)
9. [First Impressions: Emergency Couple, Black Sesame, February 3, 2014](https://blacksesame88.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/first-impressions-emergency-couple/)
10. [K-DRAMA: Emergency couple (2014), books & dramas, June 23, 2014](https://booksandramas.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/k-drama-emergency-couple-2014/)
11. [Emergency Couple Korean Drama 2014 Review, Kdrama Love](https://www.kdramalove.com/EmergencyCouple.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Medical, legal, and workplace series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license