South Korea's trade surplus narrowed in April from a year earlier as local exporters lost ground in overseas markets in the face of a weaker Japanese yen, the government said Wednesday.

The country chalked up a trade surplus of $2.58 billion last month, compared with a surplus of $3.36 billion a month earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Exports gained 0.4 percent on-year to $46.29 billion last month, while imports inched down 0.5 percent to $43.71 billion over the cited period, it said.

March marked the 15th consecutive month the country's trade balance stayed in the black, as exports grew for the second consecutive month on the back of a mild recovery in the global economy, according to the ministry.

In the first four months of the year, exports edged up 0.5 percent on-year to reach $181.8 billion, it said.

But officials worried that the yen's weakening trend is likely to persist for a long time, and its negative impacts on South Korea's exports will become visible down the road.

The ministry said exports of wireless communications equipment, semiconductors and LCDs remained firm last month, while shipments of steel products and automobiles dropped.

The country also saw an increase in shipments to emerging markets such as Asian markets and China.

Shipments to the 10-member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations jumped 15.3 percent on-year last month with those to China also growing 16.3 percent.

Exports to the United States and the European Union also gained 2.1 percent and 4.9 percent on-year, respectively, last month, it said.

However, exports to Japan dropped 11.1 percent on-year last month marking the third consecutive month of decline.

The ministry noted the country's export growth is nearly stalled, affected by a weak yen, although the global economy is on a mild recovery path. (Yonhap News)