BEIJING — A senior North Korean military official’s visit here Wednesday appears to have been organized on short notice, and was probably prompted by North Korea’s concerns about a planned meeting between President Xi Jinping of China and President Obama, analysts said.

Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, a member of the inner circle of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, arrived in Beijing two days after the United States and China announced that Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi would meet in California early next month.

Vice Marshal Choe, 63, who is the political overseer of the North Korean military, met with Wang Jiarui, the head of the international department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The vice marshal, sent by Mr. Kim as a special envoy, received only modest coverage in the Chinese state news media.

The Chinese government has shown irritation with Mr. Kim, who is regarded as a far less reliable ally than his father, Kim Jong-il, particularly after he defied Beijing to order a nuclear test in February and the launching of a three-stage rocket in December.