"Early this morning, the authorities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea informed us, through their diplomatic channels, that they were reversing their decision for me to visit the Kaesong industrial complex," Ban said in a speech at a forum in Seoul.
"No explanation was given for this last-minute change," he said.
Ban was to be the third serving UN chief to visit the North and the first since Boutros Boutros-Ghali visited in 1993.