Born in Changnyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, in 1930, Ha InDoo graduated from Seoul National University in 1954 with a degree in Fine Art before launching his career as both a teacher and practitioner of fine art. After national liberation, he went up against the older generation of artists whose careers revolved around the Chosun Art Exhibition to become one of the pioneers of the contemporary art movement in South Korea.

Together with colleagues such as Park SeoBo and Kim TschangYeul, Ha founded the Association of Contemporary Artists in 1957 and served on the jury of the National Art Exhibition of the Republic of Korea. He began his tenure at Hansung University from 1978.

The art world of Ha InDoo has its roots in Art Informel, and continued to be shaped by his empathy with international art forms at the end of the 1960s and his acceptance of Optical Art that had a good reception in South Korea. While keeping in touch with contemporary modes, Ha also applied Buddhist symbolism to his work, thus creating a unique world of his own.