The companies concerned are defense giants Raytheon, Boeing and MBDA for the SM-2 Standard, Harpoon and Sea Skua anti-ship missiles, respectively. Navy officials say the missiles displayed less than 80 percent accuracy in hits tested in 23 launches over the past years.

Concerns over the faulty missile systems led a leading lawmaker of the Grand National Party to table a question in parliament and initiate an investigation. Evidence included in the proposed probe includes a report submitted by the country's navy, the Defense News Web site reported.

The test launches were conducted between July 2008 and July 2010.

According to the navy report, three of the nine SM2 hits failed to hit their targets, as did one out of 12 Sea Skuas and one of the two Harpoons that were tested.

"The navy concluded that the SM-2 failures were caused by poor control by operators and defects in spare parts and plans to scrutinize about 130 SM-2s in operation," Defense News wrote citing details of the controversial navy report.

The probe surfaced as navy war games commenced between South Korea, the United States, Australia and Japan, in a rehearsal intended to drill the interception of illicit weapons shipments. The exercise is part of a U.S- led program targeting countries like North Korea and Iran.

The maneuvers include 10 ships and several helicopters flexing their military might in international waters between Japan and South Korea, the country's defense ministry said in a statement.

The drill comes despite warnings by North Korea that Seoul's participation in the U.S.-devised program would constitute a hostile act against it. Such belligerent rhetoric, however, is common when South Korea takes to military exercises with the United States, which Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for an invasion.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the controversial missile systems would be used in the exercise. Still, in servicing the missiles, South Korean navy experts attributed the Sea Skuas missile failure to a lack in spare parts.

"Its investigation revealed that the coupling pin on the upper part of the Sea Skua had defects," Defense News reported. "The service replaced the coupling pins of some 90 Sea Skua missiles with new ones … [I]t asked MBDA to repay about $880,000 for the failed missile but the British defense firm refused, citing the expiration of a one-year guarantee."

Separately, a joint committee of South Korean and U.S. military officials is expected to examine the Harpoon failures by the end of the year.

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