The new South Korean ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, is scheduled to arrive in Beijing later this month to take up his post, a South Korean diplomat said Monday.

In a partial diplomatic reshuffle last month, South Korea tapped the 67-year-old Kim, a former defense minister who headed the National Security Council at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, as the new ambassador to China.

China has notified South Korea of its consent to Kim's appointment, the diplomat said on the condition of anonymity.

"Arrangements have been made for Ambassador Kim to take up his post as early as this month," the diplomat said.

Kim would become South Korea's first top diplomat to China with a military background since the two nations established diplomatic ties 23 years ago.

Since graduating from the Korea Military Academy in 1971, Kim had served in various capacities in the South Korean Army. He was the Army chief of staff in 2005 and the defense minister from 2007 to 2008.

President Park Geun-hye named Kim as her top national security adviser in early 2013. But, he stepped down in May 2014 because of his controversial remarks over the role of his national security team in connection with the Sewol ferry disaster that claimed more than 300 lives.

The outgoing South Korean ambassador to China, Kwon Young-se, is set to return home on Saturday, according to the diplomat. (Yonhap)