I. Introduction
Goo Hara was a South Korean singer and actress active in Japan. She was a member of the Korean pop girl group KARA. She joined the group after Kim Sung Hee left. On November 24, 2019, she was found dead at her home as a result of suicide. In 2020, an law called the Goo Hara Law, passed in South Korean government, the law prohibits parents from overriding the living wills of their children when they pass away, to go after their financial and personal assets. Leading to her death Goo had experienced multiple traumatic events: a legal battle with her ex-boyfriend, Choi Jong-Bum, who assaulted Goo in 2018 and threatened to release a unpermitted sex video of them; a constant state of harassment from the Korean public, aimed at making K-pop idols conform to a strict moral code; and the suicide of her close friends Jonghyun and Sulli. Her death was followed by calls for reform, including petitions submitted to the Blue House, regarding sex crimes, cyberbullying, and the inheritance law. It was later disclosed that Goo had a pivotal role in making her friend Choi Jong-hoon reveal the identity of the corrupt police officer that protected Choi and the other members of the KakaoTalk chatrooms, in which rape videos were being shared which lead to the Burning Sun court case.
II. Career
Koo Hara was born on January 3, 1991, in Gwangju, South Korea. Her parents separated when she was eight years old after her mother abandoned the family. Goo and her brother were raised by their grandmother while their father was working as a construction worker around the country to support the family. She attended Woonchun Elementary School and Jeonnam Middle School, and trained as a track and field athlete for two years.
Hara moved to Seoul while attending Jeonju Fine Arts High School and participated in SM Entertainment's youth appearance tournament in 2005. She later transferred to Dongmyung Girls' Information Industry High School and then attended Sungshin Women's University. During her school days, she worked as a model for online clothing stores. In 2007, she unsuccessfully auditioned to join JYP Entertainment.
Hara joined the girl group Kara in 2008, following the departure of former member Kim Sung-hee. In October 2009, she became a cast member of the KBS reality show Invincible Youth. On January 5, 2010, during an appearance on the SBS reality show Strong Heart, Goo admitted that she had had dental and minor facial cosmetic surgery. She stated that she had always had double eyelids, but had surgery to make them more defined.
In 2011, Goo Hara made her acting debut in SBS City Hunter, where she starred as Choi Da-hye, the daughter of South Korea's president. On January 19, 2011, it was announced that Goo would be terminating her contract with her label DSP Media along with three other members of Kara, and a lawsuit was filed on their behalf. Later that day, it was announced that she would discontinue her involvement with the suit and had rejoined the company, as she apparently was not fully aware of the lawsuit's details. In November 2011, she and Nicole Jung (a fellow member of Kara) became the new MCs for Inkigayo, and they left the show on August 19, 2012, to focus on Kara's comeback. In 2013, Goo collaborated with Japanese musician and songwriter Masaharu Fukuyama to record a song called "Magic of Love" in Korean under the project group, Hara+. The song was used as a soundtrack for FujiTV's drama Galileo, in which Fukuyama starred. In October 2013, she was appointed as the blood donation ambassador for the Hanmaum Blood Bank. On December 29, 2014, she appeared in her own reality show titled On & Off, which aired on MBC Music.
On January 15, 2016, Kara disbanded due to Hara as well as fellow members Park Gyu-ri and Han Seung-yeon leaving DSP Media upon the expiration of their contracts with the company. Hara then signed with KeyEast a few days later to pursue a solo career. In December 2016, she featured in Thunder's single, "Sign". In August 2017, she starred in a web movie titled Sound of a Footstep. In November 2017, she joined the variety show Seoul Mate.
In January 2018, Hara released a soundtrack for the drama Jugglers, titled "On A Good Day".In April 2018, she hosted the JTBC's beauty show My Mad Beauty Diary. In July, she was named honorary ambassador for the 6th Animal Film Festival. In August 2018, Hara debuted as a soloist in Japan, releasing the song "Wild". Beginning in October 2018, Goo and her ex-boyfriend, Choi Jong-bum, became involved in a legal dispute that extended into 2019. The nature of the dispute caused issues in both her professional and personal life, including Content Y (a subsidiary of KeyEast that Hara had been actively promoting under since 2017), declining to renew her contract following its expiration in January 2019. After being on hiatus for the first half of 2019, she announced in June 2019 that she had signed with Production Ogi to continue her activities in Japan. Hara had previously enjoyed popularity in Japan when Kara was still active and being promoted in Japan, having participated in 62nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
Her final release prior to her death was the maxi single "Midnight Queen", which was released in September 2019. She also embarked on a mini tour, titled Hara Zepp Tour 2019: Hello, to support the album. The tour consisted of four concert dates held across Japan in November 2019, ending on the 19th. Goo had a successful solo career in Japan and was well received by her Japanese fans during the mini tour.
On January 12, 2020, the music video for "Hello", a B-side track from "Midnight Queen", was released posthumously. Its lyrics were penned by Hara to thank her supporters, and the video featured her against the night-time cityscape of Tokyo, which she had loved.As a follow-up to the music video, a photobook, memorializing Goo with photos taken just before her death, was released posthumously on April 6, 2020.
On July 16, 2024, Kara released the Korean version of "Hello" with Goo's parts mixed into the song. The song was initially to be released with Kara's fourth album "Full Bloom" in 2013, but was ultimately excluded. It was then Goo had her parts recorded. The 2024 version was rearranged and remastered to fit all members of the group, including Hur Young-ji, who joined Kara in 2014.
III. Her Lasting Legacy
Hara's death brought worldwide attention to sexual crimes against women in South Korea. Following her death, a petition was submitted to the Blue House with over 200,000 signatures demanding more severe punishment for filming sexual acts without consent and distributing the videos, revenge porn, and more generally to improve the definition of sexual assault. Another petition targeted online bullying and hate comments. Moreover, in 2024, it was revealed how Hara had a pivotal role in the investigation that reporter Kang Kyung-yoon was conducting of the KakaoTalk chatrooms, in which rape videos were being shared. Goo Hara was aware that her friend Choi Jong-hoon could be part of the rape scandal and convinced him over the phone to reveal the identity of Yoon Gyu-geun, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency officer who chatroom members referred to as the "police chief" that "watched their backs".
Goo Hara's elder brother, Goo Ho-in, after being contacted by their estranged mother for a share of Goo Hara's inheritance, started a petition to revise South Korea's inheritance law to prevent a parent from claiming inheritance if they had neglected their parental duties. The petition was successful, gathering 100,000 signatures in 30 days. Goo Ho-in then pushed the legislature to introduce the law in Goo Hara's name, as the Goo Hara Act. The bill failed to pass in the 20th National Assembly amid claims that it needed further review. The 21st National Assembly continued to look into the prospective law. At the plenary session held on December 1, 2020, the revised law was passed by the 21st National Assembly, along with other unrelated bills.
Goo Ho-in also filed a lawsuit to prevent their mother from seeking 50% of Goo Hara's assets as inheritance, as she reportedly did not fulfill her parental duties to the siblings. The revised law would not be applicable against their mother's claim, due to another law preventing retrospective application of new laws on old cases. Their father passed his claim of the inheritance to Goo Ho-in. On December 22, 2020, the Gwangju Family Court ruled in an unfavorable way, that their mother would receive 40% of the inheritance while Goo Ho-in would receive the remaining 60%.
On the second anniversary of Goo Hara's death in 2021, Goo Ho-in announced that he would auction 10 oil paintings done by Goo Hara of which proceeds would partially be donated to a Japanese non-profit organisation, Florence, whose primary clients are single parent families.
IV. Discography
IVI. Korean Discography
IVII. Mini-Albums
[2015.07.14] ALOHARA (Can You Feel It?)
IVIII. Digital Singles
[2018.01.23] Jugglers OST Part 8 (저글러스)
IVIIII. Colaborations/Other
[2011.07.27] City Hunter OST Special (#3 I Love U, I Want U, I Need U (Sweet Acoustic Ver.))
[2010.01.10] MBC Music Travel LaLaLa Live Vol. 7 - (#2 Gil (Road)) (Hara & KARA)
[2016.12.07] Thunder - THUNDER (#2 Sign (feat. Goo Ha Ra))
[2017.08.09] Jung Yuri - Baljagug Sori (#1 Gonggiui Moseub (Narration))
[2018.01.30] Jugglers OST (#8 Joheun Nale)
IVII. Japanese Discography
IVIII. Mini-Albums
[2015.08.08] ALOHARA (Can You Feel It?)
IVIIII. Singles
[2019.11.13] Midnight Queen
IVIIIII. Digital Singles
[2018.07.30] WILD
V. Filmography
VI. K-Dramas
[2011] City Hunter
[2011] URAKARA
[2013] Galileo 2
[2014] Secret Love
[2014] It's Okay, It's Love (cameo)
VII. Animated Movies
[2013] KARA The Animation
VIII. Films
[2013] Young Blood
VIV. Television
[2008] Strange Casting Season 2
[2009] Invincible Youth
[2009] Sunday Sunday Night Hunters
[2010] Running Man
[2011] Inkigayo
[2012] Invincible Youth Season 2
[2013] I'm Your Substitute Angel
