South Korea has granted citizenship to two Canadian professional hockey players.

The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday that it naturalized Brian Young and Michael Swift under a revised immigration law allowing talented foreigners to hold multiple citizenships.

Young and Swift are performing well for High1, a Seoul-based team in Asia League Ice Hockey.

Local sports officials asked the ministry to grant the two players South Korean citizenship last year under the law as part of efforts to help South Korea qualify for the men's hockey competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Forty-six foreign nationals have obtained South Korean passports since the government implemented the new immigration law in 2011.