U.S. President Joe Biden has extended existing U.S. sanctions on North Korea for another year, citing the continued threat to U.S. security posed by the North.

In a letter addressed to Congress on Monday, Biden wrote that he was extending an executive order declaring a national emergency over the nuclear threat from North Korea. 

The executive order, first declared in June 2008, has been expanded under previous administrations and calls for sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Biden noted that North Korea's "pursuit of nuclear and missile programs" and its other "provocative, destabilizing" actions continue to pose a threat to U.S. national security.

He continued that the existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons‑usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the North Korean government continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States. 

The extension comes as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim is visiting Seoul and calling for a positive response from the North to the U.S.' offer for dialogue.