Beijing is expected to nominate Chinese Foreign Ministry official Zhang Xinsheng as its new ambassador to South Korea.

A Seoul Foreign Ministry source said Friday that the South Korean government is positively reviewing the nomination.

Zhang is currently serving as the director-general of the general office, which is the head department of the 29 departments in the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Born in 1953 in Shanghai, Zhang graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University and served as ambassador to Ireland for four years until 2007.

Zhang is reportedly fluent in English but cannot speak Korean.

Cheng Yonghua, the former Chinese ambassador to South Korea, was named China’s ambassador to Japan last month.