The U.S. government-affiliated broadcaster Voice of America says that the North Korean media is completely controlled by the country's leader Kim Jong-il.

It cited a report by the Paris-based group "Reporters without Borders" that put North Korea at the bottom of a 168 nation survey on press freedom.

Voice of America also said that Kim directly controls all domestic media including the Rodong Sinmun daily and the Korean Central News Agency.

Reporters without Borders say that dozens of North Korean reporters have been sent to detention camps over simple spelling mistakes.

It said that one reporter, Song Keum-chol of the Korean Central Broadcasting Station was sent to a camp in late 1995 for rallying a few critical journalists, and that there has since been no news of him.