How does the author use symbolism in the novel, Winter in Sokcho?

The barbed wire border fence between South and North Korea that the narrator visits multiple times is a symbol of her inaction. The border area is a liminal space, a barrier that cannot be breached, and the narrator is similarly existing in a liminal space within her own life. She does not know what she wants or how to fulfill the expectations others have for her, so she is trapped, living on a metaphorical border, committing to nothing.