So Ji-sub's 'Mr. Kim' Breaks Its Own Record Again, Nearing 20% After Just Three Episodes

[Sportschosun Cho Yoon-sun] So Ji-sub's "Mr.

Kim" has once again broken its own record for viewership, putting it on the verge of surpassing 20% after just three episodes. The third episode of SBS's Friday-Saturday drama "Mr. 8% nationwide, and a peak of 23%, according to Nielsen Korea. It set another new series high. 6% in the metropolitan area, becoming the highest-rated mini-series aired on any channel in 2026. It also topped every program aired that week across all channels and genres, as well as its time slot, taking a commanding No.

1 position. 5%, fully proving its popularity. With a relentless upward trend that keeps breaking its own record every episode, "Mr. Kim" is now close to crossing 20% and has established an unmatched box-office run, once again proving itself to be the biggest hit of 2026. In episode 3, Mr. Kim (So Ji-sub), who is becoming increasingly fearless in his search for his missing daughter Minji (Seo Soo-min), joined forces with his friends Sung Han-soo (Choi Dae-hoon) and Park Jin-cheol (Yoon Kyung-ho) in a life-or-death effort.

The episode also featured a tense first encounter with North Korean operative Park Kang-seong (Kim Sung-kyu), delivering a breathless sequence of events. The episode first showed a glimpse of Mr. Kim and Minji's life in the past, bringing a quiet but moving sense of emotion. Mr. Kim acted indifferent when Minji said she wanted the latest smartphone, but he eventually bought her a new phone and a heart-shaped key ring in secret. When Minji found the gifts, she opened her door and shyly said, "Dad, I love you.

" Those ordinary yet warm memories between father and daughter made Mr. Kim's desperate search for his missing child even more heartbreaking. After being taken to the police station, Mr. Kim checked a call from Minji on the confiscated phone, overpowered the detective chief, and escaped. Holding on to the hope that Minji might still be alive, he resumed the search for his daughter. At the same time, Park Kang-seong, a special forces operative sent from the North, began to move, raising the tension.

In addition, the Special Mission Bureau led by Kang Guk-cheol (Won Hyun-jun) mobilized all of its agents to capture Mr. Kim before the North could, setting the stage for an unprecedented chase. After escaping from the police station, Mr. Kim went to see his friend Sung Han-soo and asked for help with a "bunker. " When Sung Han-soo heard that Mr. Kim's daughter Minji had been kidnapped, he immediately joined him and helped defeat the Special Mission Bureau agents with powerful action.

Meanwhile, Park Jin-cheol, who had escaped from the holding cell, fought a fierce battle with Park Kang-seong at Mr. Kim's home but failed to catch him. He later told Mr. Kim that a North Korean operative had been sent down, foreshadowing another crisis. Mr. Kim and Sung Han-soo followed the signal from Minji's phone.

After working together to subdue the group members, they managed to get the phone. But through Minji's phone, Mr. Kim belatedly learned about her lonely and difficult time. In the end, he broke down in tears, overcome with guilt, saying, "Why didn't I notice sooner?" Near the end of the broadcast, as Sung Han-soo tried to comfort the anguished Mr. Kim, saying, "Let's find Minji first.

Then you can apologize," Park Kang-seong pointed a gun at Mr. Kim's head and said, "Found you. fake 66. " The cliffhanger pushed the tension for the next episode to its peak. The episode also delivered a shocking twist by revealing that Jung Sang-ah (Son Na-eun), who had seemed to be just Mr.

Kim's colleague at the bank, and the laundromat owner (Park Jin-woo), who had seemed to be his neighbor, were actually undercover agents monitoring him. In addition, the episode ended with a flashback showing Mr. Kim and Park Jin-cheol's unusual first meeting, when they had once been the top figures in the upper and lower neighborhoods, sparking curiosity. Meanwhile, episode 4 of SBS's Friday-Saturday drama "Mr. Kim" will air on Saturday the 4th at 9:50 p.

m.