Goo Hara South Korean Singer Born 1991 in Gwangju

Early life

Goo Hara, sometimes known simply as Hara, was a South Korean singer and actress. She was born on 3 January 1991 in Gwangju, South Korea. As a schoolgirl she attended Woonchun Elementary School and Jeonnam Middle School, and she trained as a track and field athlete for two years. She later moved to Seoul to attend Jeonju Fine Arts High School, and in 2005 she took part in a youth appearance tournament organised by SM Entertainment. She subsequently transferred to Dongmyung Girls' Information Industry High School and went on to study at Sungshin Women's University. She also trained at the Joydance Music Academy. While still a student she worked as a model for online clothing stores, and in 2007 she auditioned for JYP Entertainment without being accepted.

Career

Goo joined the girl group Kara in 2008, after the departure of the member Kim Sung-hee. The other members on record include Han Seung-yeon, Nicole Jung and Park Gyu-ri. In October 2009 she became a cast member of the KBS reality show Invincible Youth. In November 2011 she and Nicole Jung became the new presenters of the music programme Inkigayo, and they left in August 2012 to concentrate on a Kara comeback.

She made her acting debut in 2011 in the SBS drama City Hunter, playing Choi Da-hye, the daughter of the country's president. Further credits include the series Urakara in 2011 and Secret Love in 2014. In 2013 she recorded the Korean-language song "Magic of Love" with the Japanese musician Masaharu Fukuyama, under the project name Hara+; it was used in the Fuji TV drama Galileo. In December 2014 she appeared in her own reality show, On & Off, on MBC Music.

In January 2015 she began presenting the KBS beauty programme A Style For You alongside Kim Heechul, Hani and Bora. That June she published a beauty book called Nail Hara. In July 2015 she debuted as a solo artist with the EP Alohara (Can You Feel It?), whose lead single was "Choco Chip Cookies", featuring the rapper Giriboy. The record reached number four in South Korea. In October 2015 she joined the variety show Shaolin Clenched Fists.

Kara disbanded in January 2016 after Goo, Park Gyu-ri and Han Seung-yeon left DSP Media when their contracts expired. A few days later Goo signed with the agency KeyEast to continue as a soloist. In December 2016 she featured on the single "Sign" by Thunder. In 2017 she starred in the web film Sound of a Footstep and joined the variety show Seoul Mate. In January 2018 she released "On A Good Day", a soundtrack song for the drama Jugglers, and in April she hosted the JTBC beauty programme My Mad Beauty Diary. In July 2018 she became honorary ambassador of the sixth Animal Film Festival, and in August she began a solo career in Japan with the song "Wild".

In June 2019 she signed with the Japanese-focused agency Production Ogi to continue her work in Japan, where she had been well known since the years when Kara was promoted there. Her last release was the maxi single "Midnight Queen", issued in September 2019. To support it she held a four-date mini tour across Japan, which ended on 19 November. She died on 24 November 2019.

Recognition

In October 2013 Goo was appointed blood donation ambassador for the Hanmaum Blood Bank. After her death, the music video for "Hello", a B-side from "Midnight Queen", was released in January 2020, with lyrics she had written to thank her supporters. A photobook with pictures taken shortly before her death followed in April 2020.

Kara's 2022 album Move Again honoured her in the video for the song "When I Move", with a sixth place setting at a table in one scene and six microphone stands on stage in another. In July 2024 the group released a Korean version of "Hello" with her vocal parts mixed in, remastered to include all six members.

A South Korean law carries her name. Her elder brother started a petition to change inheritance rules, and it gathered 100,000 signatures within 30 days. A civil servant version of the law passed in December 2020. The general Goo Hara Act, which stops a parent who neglected parental duties from inheriting their child's estate, passed in August 2024 and took effect on 1 January 2026.