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

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 sex video of them; a constant state of harassment, from part of the Korean public, aimed at making K-pop idols conform to a strict moral code; and the suicide of her close friend Sulli, who suffered similar public scrutiny a month prior to her own death.

Goo's death was followed by calls for reform, including petitions submitted to the Blue House, regarding sex crimes, cyberbullying, and the inheritance law.

[5] Goo came to Seoul while attending Jeonju Fine Arts High School [ko] and participated in SM Entertainment's youth appearance tournament in 2005.

[2] She later transferred to Dongmyung Girls' Information Industry High School [ko] and then attended Sungshin Women's University.

[11] 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.

[12][13] In 2011, Goo made her acting debut in SBS City Hunter,[14] where she starred as Choi Da-hye, the daughter of South Korea's president.

[15] 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,[16] as she apparently was not fully aware of the lawsuit's details.

[19] 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+.

[22] 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.

[28] 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.

The nature of the dispute caused issues in both her professional and personal life, including Content Y (a subsidiary of KeyEast that Goo had been actively promoting under since 2017), declining to renew her contract following its expiration in January 2019.

[39] After being on hiatus for the first half of 2019, Goo announced in June 2019 that she had signed with Production Ogi [ja] to continue her activities in Japan.

[53] 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.

[56] 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.

[57][58] On September 17, in an interview given to Korean tabloid outlet Dispatch, Goo claimed that the fight started because of her having lunch with a male aquaintance, which ignited Choi's jealousy.

"[60][61] 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.

[66][67] 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.

[80][81] On September 23, Choi applied for bail while awaiting for the decision from the Supreme Court regarding the prosecution's appeal that was set for October 15.

K-pop idols in general have to show a spotless public image, devoid of scandals, especially in sexual matters which are still taboo in South Korea.

[87] The multi-faceted hate comments are a product of the expectation of women's purity and chastity that pervade South Korean society.

Both Goo and her close friend Sulli, who also died by suicide, had their personal life under intense public scrutiny, working in an industry where idols are not usually allowed to date.

[90] On November 24, 2019, Hara was found dead at her home in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, Seoul,[91][92] with the cause of death ruled as a possible suicide.

[105][106][107] On November 27, Goo's body was cremated and her remains were enshrined at the Skycastle Memorial Park [ko] in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.

[115] Moreover, in 2024, it was revealed how Goo 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.