SEOUL - A South Korean marine has been found hanged early Thursday morning, following a series of marine suicides, some of them apparently related to being bullied, local media reported.

The 48-year-old Sergeant Major was found by a colleague at around 6 am (local time) at a Marine base in Gimpo, west of Seoul, media reports said.

Military police are considering requesting an autopsy on the dead from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation.

A Marine Corps source quoted by Yonhap news agency said no suicide note had been found. He added that investigations are underway to determine whether the cause of the death was his problems with the Marine Corps or personal reasons.

The Marine Corps has recently reported several suicides, some of them apparently related to being bullied and beaten by superiors.

On the same day, it was reported that Marine Corps chief Yoo Nak-joon expressed his intention to resign to Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin on Tuesday to take responsibility over the shooting spree that left four soldiers dead and another injured.

The 19-year-old Marine corporal, who complained of being bullied by his superiors, opened fire at his colleagues on July 4 at his base on Ganghwa Island. The corporal surnamed Kim was also injured after detonating a grenade in a suicide attempt.