Kara (band)

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Name(s): Kara, KARA, 카라, カラ
Scope/Focus: K-Pop
Date(s): 2007-2016 (on Hiatus)
See also: Kara Project, Fin.K.L, SS501, Rainbow, A-JAX, APRIL, K.A.R.D, DSP Friends, K-Drama
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Kara, often stylized as KARA, is a South Korean girl group formed by DSP Media. Originally the group started off as a quartet with members Gyuri (Park Gyuri, 박규리), Seungyeon (Han Seungyeon, 한승연), Kim Sunghee (Kim Sunghee, 김성희) and Nicole (Jung Yongju, 정용주) and debuted on March 29, 2007 with the single "Break It" from their first album "The First Blooming" on M.net's M! Countdown. The band as well as the members individually were often compared to their senior label mates Fin.K.L (which they responded to as being beneficial and inspiring) as they were displaying a strong female image and a mature R&B sound. Expectations were high, but despite rather good critics the band wasn't recognised by the general public. Before their second album Sunghee suddenly withdrew from the band due to parental pressure since she couldn't maintain her grades. The album was replaced by a mini-ablum and auditions were held which resulted in members Hara (Goo Hara, 구하라) and Jiyoung (Kang Jiyoung, 강지영) being added. Kara returned with "Rock U" and an musical style and image change to "cute and playful" as well as "pretty but natural" which was their breakthrough. Their popularity rised, in 2010 they made their Japanese debut, in 2012 they held their tour called "Karasia". On January 13, 2014 it was announced that Nicole would leave the group since her contract with DSP Media would expire, two days later it was revealed that Jiyoung would also withdraw in April. That’s why the company launched a reality TV show called "Kara Project" in May 2014 where seven trainees competed to become the new member. Youngji (Heo Youngji, 허영지) could put across against opponents like K.A.R.D’s Somin. Kara had passed their 7th anniversary by the time the show aired and many fans just weren’t ready to accept a new member joining their favorite group this late in the game. Youngji had to endure a lot of hate. Fans were worried that the group would disband at that time, but they released "Day&Night" in August and continued their success. On January 15, 2016 it was announced that Gyuri, Seungyeon and Hara would also departure from DSP Media and the band while Youngji would be given a solo career. In total, the band had three different line-ups and released four Korean and five Japanese albums. At the height of their success Kara was arguably even more popular than Girls' Generation in Japan as they were charting better and could compete with big names like Girls' Generation and Wonder Girls.

Disbandment and Reunification

Fans got slightly hopeful as well as upset when Gyuri stated that Kara hasn't disbanded [1]. In April 2016 the singer told in an interview: "Somehow people started to use that term. I guess that word best describes our situation of being apart. People might get the impression [that we've disbanded], but we are still keeping in touch, and if there's a good opportunity, we're thinking of releasing a KARA album. I honestly don’t think that we've disbanded." Another time she said: "While KARA has not disbanded, we are no longer under the same agency and our promotions are likely to be less frequent." Seungyeon later firmly emphasized that the group didn't disband in an interview [2]. Some fans argued that it was a statement of delusion since they all are under different agencies and DSP Media still owns Kara while others compared their situation to 2AM's or their former label mates SS501's situation stating that they have hope for another album, concert or reunion.

On June 11, 2022, former Kara members Gyuri, Seungyeon, Nicole, Jiyoung and Youngji reunited for a group photoshoot which was shared on each of their Instagram accounts which also tagged Hara.[3][4] What got people talking on social media is that Youngji, Nicole, and Jiyoung all followed each other, which was new since they were never groupmates. Previously they reunited as four. Three days later, it was reported that the members of Kara were in the process of discussing a reunion single in celebration of their 15th anniversary under RBW Entertainment.[5] Fans were excited. They released the new album titled Move Again on November 29 of which they later also released a Japanese version while holding fan meetings in Fukuoka, Yokohama, etc. starting in Osaka, Japan on February 23, 2023. Kara held their comeback stage at the 2022 MAMA Awards.[6] Fans got emotional about the quintet’s comeback as it was their first on-stage reunion after former member Goo Hara was found dead in her home in Seoul in 2019. On March 8, 2023, it was announced that Kara would be holding a fan meeting in South Korea on April 8, marking their first Korean fan meet in 9 years.[7] As of March 18, 2024, they no longer appear on RBW's list of artist on their website, but do on their Japanese website.[8] On March 12, it was announced that Kara would be starring in a new reality show, focusing on the group embarking on a 15th anniversary vacation. It will be the group's first reality show since their debut.[9]

Fandom

Name and Colour

The fandom calls itself "Kamilia" (카밀리아) formed from Kara (the band's name which means "sweet melody" in Greek) and Familia meaning Kara's family are their fans. The official fandom colour is Pearl Peach.

After leaving the band some of the former members got own fandom names: Nicole revealed her fandom to be Colling, the connection of "Nicole" and "Calling" in November 2014 together with a letter to the fans [10]. Jiyoung posted four days later on her personal Instagram account that her fans will be called Bicycle [11]. Seungyeon decided in November 2016 to call her fandom FanSY playing with the word "fancy" as well as the connection of "fan" and "SY" (her shortcut) [12]. Gyuri's Japanese fandom name was announced in May 2017 by herself: GRACE, the 'GR' standing for her name while the 'ACE' shows that Gyuri is the ace [13]. Since Kim Sunghee never reached out for media attention again after her departure (she is now a vocal coach and married) her fans never got to name themselves. In 2023 Young Ji announced that the name of her official fan club would be “Hurming” As Heo Young Ji's surname Heo can also be romanized as “Hur,” “Hurming” is a combination of her name and the English word “Humming.” Hara never officially announced a fandom name.

Shipping

Among the members fans well liked ships are Gyuri x Seungyeon, Hara x Seungyeon and Gyuri x Nicole. Besides that the members are also often shipped with other bands, also male like SHINee. Despite starring in "We got married" together with CNBlue's Jonghyun the idea of Seungyeon and him wasn't that well received from fans. After "Roommate" Youngji got often shipped with Got7's Jackson since their interaction during the filming was really cute. After filming VIXX's music video for "Error" she was also shipped with Hongbin as the storyline touched fans' hearts.

Controversies

Request for contract termination

On January 19, 2011 it was reported that Kara would be splitting from the company. All members excluding leader Gyuri made this decision reasoning that DSP Media's treatment was poor and unreasonable. Due to "the company repeatedly den[ying] any requests and unilaterally forc[ing] tasks upon the members" the lawyer of the four girls stated that they had prepared legal actions for two months. However, later that day it was announced that Hara discontinued the lawsuit and rejoined the company since she wasn't fully aware of the details of the lawsuit. On April 28, 2011 the conflict with the three remaining members (Seungyeon, Nicole and Jiyoung) was resolved, but two years later Nicole decided not to renew her contract despite the fact that Gyuri, Seungyeon and Hara all did. Nicole stated that she would love to continue being a Kara member, but under a different agency. Jiyoung later decided also to withdraw from the band to study abroad and have time to rest. The whole incident left fans really worried and later disappointed even though Youngji was well received by the public.

Rumour of North Korea connection

On February 2, 2012, DSP Media confirmed accusations that the man who was Kara's schedule manager during their time in Japan was a Chongryon-affiliated North Korean agent. The man followed Kara in Japan around like a shadow and had a terrifying resemblance to an in 2006 as pro-North Korean Residents' League investigated man which caused netizens to express their concern. While the label stated: "The man in question is an employee of DSP JAPAN and he is KARA's scheduling manager. We believe that his associations with North Korea will not be a problem, and we are confirming the speculations surrounding him.", the spokesman for the idol group said: "While we believe this isn't a problem in Korea, there are some in Japan who have strong feelings about this and have brought up the fact [that he is a member of the Chongryon]. There has been a backlash against Korean products like K-Pop in Japan recently, and it seems that even among fans in Japan our ties to North Korea have become a hot topic. We have confirmed that the man in question is a member of Chongryon, and we will continue to monitor the situation and make our standpoint clear." At eighteenth and nineteenth February, their concerts at the Seoul Olympic Park concert venue were disappointing turnouts leaving the question open whether the incident affected the loyalty of their fanbase[14][15].

Radio Star

"Radio Star" is a programm that is known to be a hard programm that will definitely ask you about current scandals, mention sensitive issues and mock you with them. Therefore, it wasn't a great time for Kara to go on the programm in 2013 (when Hara had a recent dating scandal) to begin with. When the MCs asked about her dating scandals the whole situation escalated. According to angry fans Hara yelled at the MCs, pushed her chair and threw a bottle at one of the MCs. Later, she and fellow member Jiyoung cried (Jiyoung because MCs asked her to do aegyo and teased her, Hara because they kept asking about her dating life). While she clearly cried (which was considered by some as rude since it made the situation awkward and they should have known, it was the job of the MCs to act the way they did; also the MCs had been way more cruel towards former guests), the fandom divided in opinions about her being rude towards the MCs (she clearly has to respect elders and seniors which she didn't do) or rather her being the victim of the situation (since she definitely didn't want to talk about the topic, even told the MCs about it, and only slid the bottle over the table). However, all three members as well as Kara as band received a lot of hate after the appearance on the show for being disrespectful and rude despite the fact that they apologized later during the show. It divided the whole fandom, some were confused that Hara appeared on the show in the first place and stating that she had to be prepared for the MCs mocking while others defended her wholeheartedly and bashed the MCs. Fans even labelled Kara as "the new T-ara" who lost their whole popularity and love from the fans overnight due to a bullying scandal. In the end both sides apologized, but Kara's image was left with a crack [16][17].

Goo Hara's Passing and Legacy

Hara's Passing

Hara pursued a solo career after leaving the band. During that time beginning in October 2018, Goo and then boyfriend, Choi Jong-bum, became involved in a legal dispute that extended into 2019. The two first met on the set of the beauty TV program My Mad Beauty Diary. On September 13, 2018 a drunken Choi broke into Hara's house and started an argument which escalated into violent assault. The police arrived after Choi reported her for assault. Hara 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 while Hara also underwent medical examination where drastic injuries were discovered. Following this, Hara 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.

After the first trial Hara was found unconcious by her manager at her home and immediately taken to hospital in what local media described as apparent suicide attempt.[18] Afterwards, she apologized to fans for worrying them [19] and decided to relaunch her solo career. Being on hiatus for the first half of 2019, Hara announced in June 2019 that she had signed with Production Ogi to continue her activities in Japan where she had previously enjoyed popularity with Kara.

In the third trial session on July 18, 2019 the judge requested that the video be submitted as evidence to the court which Goo's lawyers objected over the possibility that the public might view the video in court.[20] This led to the judge viewing the video privately in his chamber to confirm the content of the video and Hara testifying to the judge in private for two hours.[21]

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, although her fans remained loyal Hara was harassed and vilified online on social media, despite being the victim of a crime.[22]

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".[23]

Goo's final release prior to her death was the maxi single "Midnight Queen", which was released in September 2019. In addition she went on a mini tour with four concerts held across Japan in November 2019, ending on the 19th.

On November 24, 2019, Hara was found dead at her home in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, with the cause of death ruled as a possible suicide.[24] Her last public message was an Instagram post on Saturday that simply said: "Good night." Police found a suicide note written by her,[25] and concluded that there was no foul play. Goo's death occurred little over a month after her close friend Sulli of f(x) had committed suicide. Hara's fans believe that she was let down by courts.

Goo's funeral was privately held at Gangnam Severance Hospital by family members and friends, while a separate memorial service for fans took place on November 25–26 in The Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Gangnam.[26]

On January 13, 2020, the music video for "Hello", a B-side track from "Midnight Queen", was released posthumously. The release was particularly poignant for Hara's fans as it coincided with her birthday. While her actual birthday reportedly falls on Jan 3, fans have designated Jan 13 — the date listed in her official profile — as "Hara Day" for years. Its lyrics were penned by Hara to thank her supporters, and the video featured her against the night-time cityscape of Tokyo, which she had loved. As a follow-up to the music video, a photobook, memorializing Hara with photos taken just before her death, was released posthumously on April 6, 2020. [27]

Legacy

Her death brought worldwide attention to sexual crimes against women in South Korea. A petition with over 200,000 signatures demanded a more severe punishment for filming sexual acts without consent and distributing it. Furthermore, it was revealed that she had helped reporter Kang Kyung-yoon investigate Jung Joon-young's chatroom case in the Burning Sun Scandal prior to her death.[28] It was discussed among the public how widespread spy cameras are and how lenient the illegal filming cases are as well as the risk of being an outspoken woman: newspapers claimed that South Korea remains a conservative and patriarchal society. Sulli and Hara were known for being outspoken, a trait not common among K-pop stars. They failed to fit the stereotypical gender mould which made them accoring to journalists a target for ridicule and online abuse.[29]

Her older brother, Goo Ho-in, started a petition which gained 100,000 signatures in 30 days to revise South Korea's inheritance law, to prevent a parent from claiming inheritance if they had neglected their parental duties, after being contacted by their estranged mother for a share of Goo Hara's inheritance.[30] After failing the 20th National Assembly, the revised law called the Goo Hara Act was passed by the 21st National Assembly.[31] He also filed a lawsuit to prevent their mother from seeking 50% of Goo Hara's assets as inheritance. On December 22, 2020, the Gwangju Family Court ruled that their mother would receive 40% of the inheritance while Goo Ho-in would receive the remaining 60%.[32] On the second anniversary of Goo Hara's death in 2021, Goo Ho-in raised money the for non-profit organisation, Florence, whose primary clients are of single parent families.

The death of actor Cha In-ha on December 3, 2019, following the suicide of Sulli, Oct. 14, and Hara, Nov. 24, and marking the third death in two month raised concerns over copycat suicides. The governent was criticized for not having a solution for preventing those cases. While young people's deaths grabs the attention of the media, actual government support to prevent such tragedies is supposedly minimal and focused on elderly. The deaths also have shone a light on the pressures that K-pop stars are under.[33]

Accounts

Together

Individual

Fans

Fanfiction

Resources

References

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