The incident occurred when the man, a robotics company employee in his 40s, was inspecting the robot.
The robotic arm, confusing the man for a box of vegetables, grabbed him and pushed his body against the conveyer belt, crushing his face and chest, South Korean news agency Yonhap said.
He was sent to hospital but later died.
It’s a safety procedure: if equipment is faulty, you lock the controls with a special device to render it unusable until it is serviced, and a tag accompanies the lock to show when the service call was placed. If locking is impossible, just the tag will suffice.