South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck speaks during a news conference on North Korea's missile launch, in Seoul, South Korea in this still image taken from video, February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Reuters TV

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Thursday it was concerned about growing calls in China to put South Korean companies at a disadvantage over Beijing’s objections to the planned deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told a briefing that the system was strictly for defensive purposes and it had no plans to change the scheduled deployment.