Goo Hara

Goo Hara (January 3, 1991 – November 24, 2019), also known mononymously as Hara, was a South Korean singer and actress.

Goo was born on January 3, 1991, in Gwangju, South Korea.

Goo's 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.

Goo came 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 internet clothing stores.

In 2007, she unsuccessfully auditioned to join JYP Entertainment.

Goo 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.

She was a member of the girl group Kara, and had also appeared in television dramas including City Hunter (2011).

In 2011, Goo 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.

She made her debut as a soloist in July 2015 with the release of her EP Alohara (Can You Feel It?).

In January 2015, Goo started hosting KBS' idol beauty show A Style For You along with Super Junior's Kim Heechul, EXID's Hani and Sistar's Bora.

In June 2015, she released a beauty book titled Nail Hara.

In July 2015, Goo debuted as a solo artist with the release of the EP Alohara (Can You Feel It?), which peaked at #4 domestically.

The lead single "Choco Chip Cookies" features South Korean rapper Giriboy.

In October 2015, Goo joined the variety show Shaolin Clenched Fists.

After Kara disbanded in 2016, she continued her solo career at another agency, KeyEast.

On January 15, 2016, Kara disbanded due to Goo and fellow members Park Gyu-ri and Han Seung-yeon leaving DSP Media upon the expiration of their contracts with the company.

Goo then signed with KeyEast a few days later to pursue a solo career.

Her solo career was interrupted in 2018 after she became embroiled in a legal case with her ex-boyfriend, Choi Jong-bum, which was initiated when he assaulted Goo and threatened to release their sex video to harm her career.

In June 2019, she continued her solo activities in Japan where she was well received by fans.

Her last release was a maxi single "Midnight Queen", released on September 19, 2019.

Goo's death, ruled as a possible suicide on November 24, 2019, brought worldwide attention to sexual crimes against women in South Korea, one of which was the usage of molka (spy cameras) to discreetly capture voyeuristic images and videos of women.

In response several petitions were submitted to the Blue House.

One petition demanded a more severe punishment for filming sexual acts without consent and distributing it, and the other represented a need to revise South Korea's inheritance laws to prevent absent parents from claiming inheritance from their neglected children.

The inheritance laws were amended on December 1, 2020, with the bill carrying amendments titled "Goo Hara Act".

As the amended law could not be applied retroactively, Goo's brother Goo Ho-in filed a lawsuit against their mother, who was said to have neglected her parental duties, to prevent her from claiming inheritance from Goo Hara's estate.

The court awarded their mother 40% of the estate.