BEIJING ¨C United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon¡¯s upcoming schedule does not include a trip to North Korea, according to an itinerary released by his spokesman after Chinese media reported that Ban would visit the North on Monday.

A statement released to Reuters said Ban will be in New York and then Malta for the Commonwealth Summit, which will start on Nov. 27. From there, he will travel to Paris for the U.N. summit on climate change, which will begin on Nov. 30.

¡°He has repeatedly said that he is willing to play any constructive role, including traveling to the DPRK, in an effort to work for peace, stability and dialogue on the Korean Peninsula,¡± said the statement by spokesman Stephane Dujarric. North Korea¡¯s official name is the Democratic People¡¯s Republic of Korea.

A report by China¡¯s state-run Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday, citing North Korea¡¯s official KCNA news agency, said Ban would visit for about four days starting Monday, and that his itinerary was being confirmed.

On Monday, South Korea¡¯s Yonhap news agency said Ban would visit the North Korean capital this week, citing an unnamed U.N. source.

The U.N. spokesman¡¯s office on Monday said that it had no comment on the reported planned visit but that Ban has always said he is ready to play a role to help dialogue and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Two serving U.N. chiefs have traveled to the North. Kurt Waldheim visited the capital, Pyongyang, in 1979 and again in 1981, followed by Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1993.

Ban, a South Korean, had earlier this year made plans to visit an industrial park in the North operated jointly by the two Koreas. But Pyongyang retracted approval for the trip at the last minute without explanation.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The two Koreas in August held high-level talks to end a tense standoff at their border and try to improve ties.