Taipei, April 28 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Thursday said Taiwan's new top envoy to South Korea is a highly qualified legal expert who has rich experience in Asia-Pacific affairs.

MOFA's statement came after a South Korean newspaper questioned Taiwan's choice of Liang Kuang-chung (梁光中), the head of MOFA's legal department, as the nation's new representative to Seoul.

Liang will replace Tang Diann-wen (唐殿文), who has served as the head of the Taipei Mission in Korea since September 2018.

Asked to comment, MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said Thursday that Liang was the appropriate choice as the nation's de facto ambassador to South Korea given the fact that he has rich experience in the Asia-Pacific region and is a legal expert.

The ministry believes that Liang will continue to promote even closer Taipei-Seoul relations after he officially assumes office, she added.

Meanwhile, a source told CNA that Liang had been serving as the director-general of MOFA's Department of Treaty and Legal Affairs since October 2018.

Director-general is the head of a MOFA department, thus making him an ambassador-level diplomat and qualified to be assigned to head Taiwan's representative offices and embassies overseas.

Ou said Thursday that Liang was in talks with Tang to make arrangements to officially take up the post in Seoul soon, but that no exact date had been decided yet.

In an article published on Tuesday, the Korean-language Chosun Ilbo said by appointing Liang - whose most recent overseas post was as the head of Taiwan's representative office in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, a consul-general level position - Taiwan's government had downgraded Taiwan- Korea relations to below the level of ambassador.

The mission represents Taiwan's interests in South Korea in the absence of official diplomatic ties.