SEOUL, Oct 3, 2008 (AFP) - South Korean police said two women were found hanging from lengths of elastic Friday after a South Korean actress killed herself in the same way, raising fears of copycat suicides.

Police said a 55-year-old woman was found dead early Friday in the bathroom of her apartment in Haenam county in South Jeolla province, with an elastic band around her neck.

Her family told police she had suffered from depression, according to Yonhap news agency.

Six hours later a 30-year-old woman was found dead after hanging herself with an elastic band in her house in the eastern port of Gangneung.

No notes were found, but Yonhap quoted police as saying the suicide of Choi Jin-Sil, a 40-year-old actress and mother of two, might have influenced the two women.

Choi's body was found Thursday in the shower of her Seoul apartment, hanging from a length of elastic.

Relatives said Choi had been in agony over Internet rumours that she had lent a huge sum of money to actor Ahn Jae-Hwan. Ahn killed himself in early September, apparently under pressure from heavy debts.

Police said Choi had been on medication for depression since her marriage to a pro baseball player ended in an ugly divorce in 2004.

Investigators arrested a securities employee earlier this week after Choi sought a police probe into the source of what she called groundless rumours.

Last year at least two South Korean celebrities committed suicide after they came under cyber-attack on their own websites, prompting the government to curb cyber-bullying.

Experts and newspapers fear copycat suicides, given Choi's influence for two decades in the entertainment industry.

In an editorial Friday the Korea Herald called for cautious media coverage.

'The string of celebrity suicides highlights a troubling social phenomenon in Korea,' it said, adding suicide was the fourth leading cause of death last year in the country.

'Giving detailed information on how the suicide was committed carries the danger of others copying the act.'