South Korean President Yoon Yeol cast his ballot on Friday as early voting got under way ahead of next week's general election, where his party will seek to win back its parliamentary majority.

According to some pollsters, the South Korean leader's approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent in recent weeks, driven by a litany of scandals and voter dissatisfaction with rising inflation.

Yoon cast his vote in the country's southern port city of Busan on Friday, and afterwards thanked the staff at the polling station, his office said.

 According to the country's election commission, the president and 11.1 percent of the country's eligible voters had cast their ballots at more than 3,500 polling stations nationwide as of 3 pm (0600 GMT) on Friday.

Authorities revealed that this is the highest turnout for a general election during the specified time slot since early voting was introduced in 2013. 

Yoon had on Thursday urged every eligible voter to cast their ballot, calling it both an "exercise of right and responsibility."

He is only allowed a single five-year term under the constitution, as reports have it that his party is eager to win control of parliament so they can make progress on his socially conservative agenda and hawkish approach to Pyongyang.

While his party has faced scandals, including a claim that Yoon's former defence minister had interfered with a probe into a young marine's death, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung has been mired in criminal investigations.