(VOVworld) – South Korea's liberal Democratic Party on Monday renewed its call for a parliamentary inspection of the ongoing deployment of a US missile defense system, raising suspicion that the government may have pressured a local company to agree to offer land to host the missile shield unit.

Members of the Democratic Party's committee on the THAAD issue hold a news conference in Seoul on March 20, 2017. (Photo: Yonhap)

The largest political party's special committee on the issue insisted Lotte Group's decision to provide its 18-hole golf club in Seongju, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was made under government pressure.

The accusation came about 10 days after Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin was quoted as saying that his group had little or no choice in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, published March 24.

Shin's remarks had also been viewed as an appeal to Chinese consumers in the wake of an apparent retaliation from the Chinese government. Since the land deal, dozens of Lotte grocery shops and department stores in China have been shut down for various reasons.