Get ready for one of the boldest thrillers of the year—The Scalpel Hunter pits a sociopathic daughter against her psychopathic father in a chilling battle of blood and legacy.

🔪 Not Just Another Crime Thriller

At a press conference held on June 12 at Ramada Seoul Sindorim, the cast and crew of LG U+ STUDIO X+U's The Scalpel Hunter unveiled their psychological crime series. Park Ju-hyun stars as a genius forensic pathologist with sociopathic tendencies, while Park Yong-woo plays her estranged father—a once-notorious serial killer known as "The Tailor."

🧬 Blood Ties, Buried Secrets

Park Yong-woo's character, Yoon Jo-gyun, was thought to be dead after a string of grisly murders. In reality, he had once forced his daughter Seohyun (Park Ju-hyun) to assist in disposing bodies. Twenty years later, the two reunite—on opposite sides of the scalpel.

Seohyun recognizes her father's murder pattern during an autopsy. From there, the hunt begins. She's out to stop him before he pulls her back into his twisted world.

🧠 Mind Games & Emotional Complexity

"This is not a glamorized horror show," Park Ju-hyun emphasized. "We tried to portray raw human emotion as honestly as possible—which makes it all the more disturbing."

Director Lee Jung-hoon added, "This isn't just a cat-and-mouse chase. The uncomfortable truth between father and daughter unfolds slowly, and the father continuously puts the daughter through moral tests."

Park Yong-woo explained his deep-dive prep: "I studied real serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson. What stood out was their lack of empathy. I practiced mirroring that—emotionless but convincingly social."

🧩 Heroes, Monsters, and the Gray Zone

Park Ju-hyun's Seohyun is a brilliantly sharp pathologist but emotionally elusive. "She doesn't express herself in normal emotional layers," the actress said. "I tried to perform her inner world subtly, without giving too much away."

Meanwhile, Kang Hoon plays Detective Jung Hyun, who idolizes Seohyun but starts questioning her involvement as puzzle pieces fall into place. "He's constantly torn between admiration and suspicion," said Kang.

🩸 Not Just Gore—A Deep Psychological Battle

Beneath the serial killings lies a deeper story: Seohyun's conflicted emotions toward her father. "She both resents and craves his love," said Director Lee. "She's not merely guilty or innocent—she may have chosen sociopathy as a defense mechanism."

Seohyun's only human anchor is Detective Jung Hyun. "He has the warmth and morality Seohyun lacks," Park Ju-hyun explained. "He's the only one she can lean on."

📚 From Novel to Mid-Form Thriller

Based on a novel, The Scalpel Hunter features tight storytelling in a unique "mid-form" format—30 minutes per episode, 16 episodes total. "We condensed everything into that half hour without sacrificing intensity," said Director Lee.

📺 Release Details
The Scalpel Hunter will premiere on June 16 via U+tv, U+Mobiletv, and Disney+.

[Photo Credit: Song Hyo-jin, Dispatch]