Three Korean executives from Hitachi-LG Data Storage Ltd. have agreed to plead guilty to rigging bids and fixing prices on optical disk drives used in computers and other electronic devices, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The executives will serve prison time in the U.S., the department said. The charges were filed in a San Francisco federal court.

Earlier this year, the company, a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd. (HIT, 6501.TO) and LG Electronics Inc. (066570.SE), agreed to plead guilty to price fixing and pay a $21 million criminal fine.

Prosecutors said the company and unnamed co-conspirators rigged the bidding process on drives they sold to Dell Inc. (DELL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ).

Optical disk drives are used in everyday consumer products such as personal computers, DVD and Blu-ray disk players, and videogame consoles.

The executives charged Tuesday were Young Keun Park, Sang Hun Kim and Sik Hur.

-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; brent.kendall@dowjones.com

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