Yoo Jae-ha

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Korean. (June 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Korean Wikipedia article at [[:ko:유재하]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ko|유재하}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Yoo Jae-ha
Background information
Born	(1962-06-06)June 6, 1962 Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea[1]
Died	November 1, 1987(1987-11-01) (aged 25) Seoul, South Korea
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1984–1987
Korean name
Hangul	유재하
Hanja	柳在夏
Revised Romanization	Yu Jae-ha
McCune–Reischauer	Yu Chae-ha

Yoo Jae-ha (Korean: 유재하; Hanja: 柳在夏;^[2] June 6, 1962 – November 1, 1987)^[3] was a South Korean singer and songwriter.^[4] His first and only album, Because I Love You (Korean: 사랑하기 때문에) was released through Seoul Records in 1987.^[5] Yoo died in a car accident months later from the album release at age 25.^[6] Even though he died with only one album, Yoo Jae-ha's music has a great legacy in South Korea, and it is credited with exerting tremendous influence in Korean popular music.

Yoo was born in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea.^[1] He attended Hanyang University, where he studied music composition and began playing the keyboard for Cho Yong-pil's band, The Great Birth in 1984.^[6]

After graduating from college, he worked with Kim Hyun-sik for Kim's first album Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter, and in 1986, he wrote the song "Hidden Road" (Korean: 골목길) from Kim's 3rd album, which contributed to the creation of Kim's early alum. The following year, in 1987, he released his first and only album, Because I Love You, and then died in a car accident on November 1 of the same year at the age of 25.

Following Yoo's death in 1987, his family established the Yoo Jae-ha Scholarship Foundation, followed in 1989 by the Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest. Winners of the contest include You Hee-yeol, Kim Yeon-woo, and Bang Si-hyuk.^[7]

As of 2011, Because I Love You has sold more than 2 million copies.^[8] The album was remastered and re-released on vinyl in 2014.^[9] In 2013, Mnet ranked Yoo at number one on their Legend 100 list of the most influential musicians in South Korean history since the 1960s.^[10] In 2018, Because I Love You was ranked the best pop album in South Korean history by a panel of music critics and music industry experts in collaboration with The Hankyoreh and Melon.^[11]

• Yoo Jae-ha Music Scholarship