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Four Hynix executives have pleaded guilty to a price fixing charge and agreed to serve jail terms of between five and eight months in the United States, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The four executives of Korea¡¯s second-largest semiconductor firm conspired with other companies to fix U.S. prices of DRAM chips for three years starting in April 1999, the department said. It identified the four as D.S. Kim, general manager of worldwide sales and marketing; C.K. Chung, director of global strategic account sales; K.C. Suh, senior manager for memory product marketing; and C.Y. Choi, general manager of marketing and sales support at Hynix in Germany. It added they individually agreed to serve between five and eight months in jail, pay US$250,000 each in fines and cooperate with the investigation.
The four admitted violating U.S. law by fixing DRAM prices in meetings and phone conversations with rival manufacturers.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the executives were being jailed to protect the free market. ¡°Individuals who defraud American businesses and consumers by participating in international price-fixing conspiracies will be prosecuted and sent to prison no matter where they live or where they commit the crime,¡¯¡¯ Gonzales said.
Seven former and current executives with Samsung Electronics also face similar punishment.
Meanwhile, an international investigation is underway into allegations that Korean Air and Asiana Airlines were part in an airline cartel fixing air freight rates.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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