China appears to have appointed a vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party as Beijing's new ambassador to North Korea, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.
  

Li Jinjun, 59, vice minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of China's Communist Party, is likely to succeed Liu Hongcai, who returned home after serving his five-year stint in Pyongyang, according to the source.
  

Li steps into the new job as political relations between North Korea and China remain strained because of Pyongyang's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons.
  

A veteran diplomat of the Chinese Communist Party, Li served as China's ambassador to Myanmar and the Philippines.
  

The website of the International Department said the outgoing ambassador to North Korea, Liu, returned to his post as a vice minister, but there was no mention of who will succeed him. (Yonhap)