Goo Hara

About Goo Hara

Goo Hara, also known mononymously as Hara, was a South Korean singer and actress. She was a member of the South Korean girl group Kara, and had also appeared in television dramas including City Hunter (2011). She made her debut as a soloist in July 2015 with the release of her EP Alohara (Can You Feel It?). After Kara disbanded in 2016, she continued her solo career at another agency, KeyEast. 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 retrospectively, 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.

Domestic dispute with Choi Jong-Bum

Goo dated hairdresser Choi Jong-Bum after the two first met on the set of the beauty TV program My Mad Beauty Diary. At around 1 a.m. of September 13, 2018, a drunken Choi broke into Goo's house while she was sleeping and started an argument that escalated into violent assault, when he allegedly tried to break up with her. The police arrived at Goo's house after Choi reported her for assault. Goo claimed that the incident was two-sided and then both parties posted images of their injuries to the internet to explain their side of the story. After the incident, Goo underwent a medical examination, and she was found to be suffering from uterus and vagina hemorrhage, and was also diagnosed with "cervical sprain", "facial contusions and sprain", "lower leg contusions and sprain", and "right forearm and additional sprains." Following this, Goo filed a lawsuit against Choi for threatening to release a sex video filmed without her consent in an attempt by him to end her career.

In the first trial session held on April 18, 2019, Choi was presented with the charges of filming the sex video, injury, intimidation, coercion, and property damage. Choi denied all charges except destruction of property. On May 26, 2019, Goo attempted suicide in her apartment and was immediately taken to the hospital, after which she apologized for worrying her fans. As a result, Goo did not attend the second trial session on May 30, 2019. She was originally scheduled to appear as a witness in court. In the third trial session on July 18, 2019, the presiding judge, Oh Duk-Shik, requested that the video be submitted as evidence to the court as the content in the video was disputed. After objections from Goo's lawyers over the possibility that the public might view the video in court, the judge viewed the video privately in his chamber to confirm the content of the video. Additionally, Goo testified to Oh in private for two hours as well.

In August 2019, Choi was acquitted of the charge of filming the sex video without permission as the court agreed that the filming was done without her consent, but because she remained in the relationship they found him not guilty of illicit filming. However, he was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years after probation, after being convicted of threatening to upload the sex video, coercion, physical assault, and destroying Goo's property. After news of her sex video went public, Goo was harassed online on social media, despite being the victim of a crime. Upon closure of an appeal to the suspended sentence on July 2, 2020, Choi was sentenced to a year in prison, with the court stating that Choi "was well aware that the degree of damage would be very serious if the sex videos were leaked, given that the victim was a famous celebrity". The prosecution team appealed to the Supreme Court for a heavier sentence on July 8, 2020. On September 23, Choi applied for bail while awaiting for the decision from the Supreme Court over the prosecution's appeal that was set for October 15. The Supreme Court denied his bail stating, "There is no significant reason to grant bail for Choi Jong-Bum. This decision was made with the consensus of the Supreme Court Justices involved."The Supreme Court upheld the one-year sentence on October 15, 2020.

On November 24, 2019, Hara was found dead at her home in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam by her manager, with the cause of death ruled as a possible suicide. Police found a suicide note written by Goo and concluded that there was no foul play, as she was seen on CCTV footage returning home at 12:40 am, with no further visitors except for the housekeeper who found her body at 6 p.m. the same day. An autopsy was not performed after the police consulted the prosecutor in charge and took into consideration her family's request. The body was handed over to her family on November 26. Goo's death occurred over a month after her close friend and fellow idol Sulli had committed suicide.