Imports of Japanese seafood products reached 170 million U.S. dollars last year to post the highest value since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.

According to the Korea Customs Service on Thursday, last year's Japanese seafood imports expanded 12-point-two percent from a year earlier to reach about 82 percent of 2010 levels prior to the disaster.

Relatively expensive live fish took up 48-point-two percent of all seafood imports, which helped drive the recovery of the import value despite the actual volume remaining at 40 percent of 2010 levels.

Seafood imports from Japan came in sixth in import value for South Korea, trailing Russia at one-point-42 billion dollars, China at one-point-03 billion dollars, and Vietnam at 676 million dollars.

In September 2011, Seoul banned imports of marine products from Fukushima and seven surrounding prefectures, leading to a gradual decline in inbound shipments before reserving in 2019.

Amid Japanese media reports that Tokyo requested that Seoul lift the import restrictions during a recent leaders' summit, the South Korean presidential office said earlier this week that the regulators must first verify the safety of Japanese seafood products.