Goo Hara was born on January 13, 1991, in Gwangju, South Korea. Before debuting, she participated in SM's youth appearance tournament in 2005. In 2007, she auditioned for JYP, however, she lost the runoff.
She was also an online shopping mall model, having been scouted after her photos were uploaded onto DSP's homepage. Thus, Goo Hara became a member of Kara. She is currently attending Sungshin Women's University.
On January 5, 2010, during an appearance at SBS' Strong Heart she admitted to getting dental and minor cosmetic surgery on her face. She confessed to receiving one filler injection on her nose and had her teeth fixed. She stated that she had always had double eyelids, but had surgery to get them more defined.