The finance ministers of South Korea, China and Japan pledged to enhance cooperation to expedite economic recovery amid weakening trilateral economic ties.

According to Seoul's finance ministry on Tuesday, the pledge was made during a meeting of the three countries' finance ministers and central bank governors in Incheon's Songdo, the first face-to-face gathering in four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his opening remarks, finance minister Choo Kyung-ho said cooperation between the three Northeast Asian countries can serve as an engine for a swift and sustainable global economic recovery, citing the three economies' 20-percent share of the global economy.

The minister called for expanded three-way cooperation not just in finance, trade and investment but also tourism, culture, people-to-people exchanges and policy coordination on the back of the global reopening.

Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo also agreed to reinforce financial cooperation and communication with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by enhancing the effectiveness of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation(CMIM) agreement.

The CMIM, launched in 2000 and revamped into a multilateral network in 2010, refers to a 240-billion-U.S. dollar pool that can be tapped through currency swap deals in times of financial crisis.