This Aug.4 photo shows the outside of Seongsu Station, one of the four Seoul subway stations for which the naming rights were recently sold. (Yonhap)

Seoul Metro, operator of the Seoul subway system, said Monday it has sold the naming rights for four stations to local companies in a recent open auction, in a bid to address its chronic financial issues.

The naming right of Seongsu Station was sold to Olive Young, a health and beauty products retailer of the CJ Group, for 1 billion won ($730,000), while rights for renaming Yeouinaru Station was to Eugene Investment and Securities Co. for 220 million won. The naming right for Gangnam Station was sold to Haru Plant Dental Clinic for 1.11 billion won, the priciest naming deal ever involving a subway station.

The corporate names for these stations will be used alongside the current names.

Seoul Metro did not reveal the company who bought the naming right for Sangbong Station, or the exact size of the of the deal. It also offered naming rights of six other stations, but the bidding for them fell through.

The new names will be applied from October and will be retained for three years.

Naming rights deals, which are most common for sports arenas, is a relatively new concept for subway stations here. The state-run railway operator offered the naming rights for the stations recently to address Seoul Metro's snowballing deficits.

The company suffered a net loss of 517.3 billion won in 2023 and has an accumulated loss north of 17 trillion won.

Unlike the naming rights in some other fields that replaces the previous name, the Seoul Metro deal grants the companies the right to place their names next to the existing station name.

For example, Euljiro 3(sam)-ga Station on Lines No. 2 and No. 3 was renamed Euljiro 3(sam)-ga (Shinhan Card) Station in 2022, after the credit card company bought the rights in what was then the most expensive naming deal for a subway station.

The naming deals are only offered for stations directly operated by the Seoul Metro, and excludes other lines, such as Line No. 9, which is operated by a separate company Seoul Metro Line 9.