Ha Dae-sung displayed exceptional footballing talent from early years. In 1997, Ha, who was then attending Incheon Mansoobuk Elementary School, was given the Grand Prize at the Cha Bum-kun Footballing Award, which is established by South Korean legend Cha Bum-kun to discover young talents. His reputation led Bupyeong High School, one of the most famous footballing schools in South Korea, to scout him. However, soon he got a crucial injury on his right knee and had to stop playing football for two years. On his senior year at high school, he began to play regularly. Soon, along with teammates Lee Keun-ho and Kim Seung-yong, Ha formed the famous Bupyeong Trio, helping his school win three national competitions.
Club career
Ha Dae-sung joined Ulsan Hyundai in 2004. However, he could not find his place at the club, which boasted players like Lee Ho, Lee Chun-soo and Kim Jung-woo at the time. Having failed at Ulsan, Ha moved to Daegu FC in 2006 and made his K League debut. With Lee Keun-ho, Ha began to shine and Daegu made a sensation in 2008 by playing an extremely aggressive football and becoming the joint top-scoring club in the league. In 2009, he moved to Jeonbuk Hyundai with his team-mate Jin Kyung-sun. Although Jeonbuk won the league in that season, Ha Dae-sung failed to secure a regular place in the first team. He moved to FC Seoul in 2010 and helped his club win the league in that season. On 3 January2012, Ha was appointed captain of FC Seoul. After leading FC Seoul to another league championship, Ha Dae-sung received interest from various clubs. Dinamo Zagreb reportedly was one of the numerous clubs that made an offer to sign Ha. It was reported that a club from Qatar Stars League offered $2.5m as transfer fee to lure Ha. However, Ha chose to stay at FC Seoul. On 3 January 2014, FC Seoul officially announced Ha's leaving to Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. On 19 January 2017, FC Seoul officially announced Ha's return.
Ha Dae-sung is a close friend of Lee Keun-ho. The two have known each other since they were 10 and attended the same elementary, middle and high schools. Ha said that he is exempt from military duty because of an illness he suffered during childhood on a radio show. His younger brother Ha Sung-min is also a footballer.
