SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea invited South Korean factory owners to a shuttered industrial complex on Tuesday to discuss its reopening, a gesture the South Korean government swiftly rejected.

The two Korean governments have been blaming each other for weeks for the closing of the Kaesong Industrial Zone. Their bickering is closely watched by analysts; whether they revive the factory park or decide to shut it down for good could set the tone for broader inter-Korean relations in coming years.

If the South Korean factory owners return to Kaesong, “we are ready to hold any discussion on the normalization” of the zone, a spokesman for the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

If the South is worried about the safety of the business owners, he said, North Korea will allow them to be accompanied by officials from a semi-government agency that represents the South’s interests in Kaesong.