Invoking its 1976 National Emergency Act, the United States has decided to extend an executive order that has been in place since 2008 declaring a national emergency with regard to threats posed by North Korea. 

According to the U.S. Federal Register on Monday, the White House said in a notice dated Friday last week that the national emergency related to North Korea will continue for a year. 

The previous order was set to expire Thursday. 

The White House said in the notice that the existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States. 

Under the National Emergency Act, the U.S. president can declare a state of emergency and expand his administrative authority to cope with a national crisis.