A YouTube video that chronicles SK hynix’s technological challenges over the years to mass-produce the world’s first 128-layer triple-level cell 4D NAND chip has received over 12 million views in less than two weeks of its release, the company said in a statement Monday.

The corporate promotion video titled “Cheongju Jikji,” narrates how the company’s challenging spirit resembles the passion and drive that drove the inventors of the world’s first metal movable type print in the 14th century of Goryeo kingdom. The Jikji, the oldest metal-printed book was published 78 year before the 42-line Gutenburg Bible, printed in 1454 in Germany. The world’s second-largest memory chipmaker has fabrication plants both in Cheongju and Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

“The Jikji must have been invented after overcoming a lot of challenges in Cheongju in 1377. And we show that the DNA may have been passed onto SK hynix, serving as impetus for the company’s drive in technology development,” an official said.

The Jikji and memory chips, though nearly 700 years apart, share a common ground that both are innovative technologies that brought expansion of knowledge sharing, he added.

In June, the chipmaking arm of SK Group said it has started mass-producing 1-terabit NAND chips using its proprietary 4D platform to offer the industry’s largest memory storage capacity that will be launched in the second half of the year.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)