(CNN) -- He's a bespectacled, middle-aged South Korean guy with a corporate job. But he has already swept Twitter and the international media, which swarmed him at the airport as he departed. The uber fan who captured the heart of Kansas City is to arrive at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday for Game 1 of the World Series. Lee SungWoo has become the unlikely talisman for the surprise contenders, the Kansas City Royals. His nearly 20 year-long obsession with the baseball team from afar has become the feel-good story. After becoming a fan in the 1990s, Lee followed the Royals, barely missing a game, despite the 14-hour difference between Kansas City and Seoul. He paid little heed that the Royals hadn't made the playoffs in the last 29 years. In a 2012 interview, he tried to explain to a local website about his love for the Royals.
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Unlikely story about a Korean fan of the Royals made waves this summer
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Lee SungWoo will be returning to Kansas City to watch World Series
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Lee won over the city and Royals fans by his unrelenting loyalty to the team
After nearly two decades of watching from afar, he arrived in @placeholder for the first time in August.