How does the unnamed narrator describe the border between North and South Korea in the novel, Winter in Sokcho?

The narrator provides a vivid description of the border in Chapter Eight: "Skeletal remains of villages on either side of the road. Cardboard boxes, plastic waste, blue metal sheets. No urban sprawl. Gangwon Province had been left to rot since the war" (37). Everything appears "Grey and beige" and a voice on a loudspeaker details the strict rules for conduct at the border: "No photography. No filming. No leaving the marked pathway. No loud voices. No laughing" (38). This is a desolate area that symbolizes the sense of despair and isolation that the narrator feels about her life.