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As far as I know, one of them means "a short while ago", the other "in a short time". Sometimes they are used interchangeably. I'm looking for an explanation of the two words, how they differ, and a few suitable example sentences.
I keep confusing the two. A mnemonic might help, too.
'방금' and '금방' have same hanja behind: 方今 vs 今方. Although, '방금' is more often used for past, and '금방' is more widely used for the future, they both can mean short time preceding, or following the current moment (often interchangeable).
(Interestingly, 今 means 'now', and 方 means 'direction', hence in the word 방금, the direction is left of now, and in 금방 it is pointing towards the right which is often associated with future.)
방금 should be used with the past tense or just a short while ago.
방금 뭐 했냐? (친구들이랑 with friends)
방금 뭐 하셨어요? (polite manner)
However, 방금 뭐 해요 doesn't make sense to a native Korean. 방금 뭐 했어? 방금 뭐 했어요? does make sense.
금방 (soon, shortly) should be used within the future sentence. For example,
금방 갈게. I will be there in a second.
I am not a right person to teach Korean in English, but I can point it out which parts are wrong and help you to understand.
They can both mean a time right before or right after the speaking moment, however the following meaning is usually adopted by native speakers.
방금: To describe a short time not long before the speaking time. Similar to the word 아까.
Ex: 방금 뭐 했어? -> What were you just doing?
금방: To describe a very short time not long after the speaking time. Future tense is thus usually used. Similar to the word 바로, but 바로 is immediate and without delay.
Ex: 금방 갈게요. -> I will go (in a second).
금방 for the slight past tense and 방금 for the slight future tense are seemingly getting a bit dated, but are still valid: “그녀는 약속 장소에 금방 도착했다.,” “한 개 남은 이마저 방금이라도 빠질 듯이 흔들흔들한다..”
Oct 16, 2018 at 5:56
If you check those words, they have same Chinese characters and pretty much have same meaning as described in the other answer. One thing can be different though will be "금방" can be also used as @Super Cool Handsome Gel Boy mentioned as
금방: To describe a very short time not long after the speaking time. Future tense is thus usually used. Similar to the word 바로, but 바로 is immediate and without delay.
Ex: 금방 갈게요. -> I will go (in a second).
If you say 금방 갈께요 then it means you'll be there in a second or you'll be leaving for that destination (whether home or school or wherever) shortly.
방금 = noun, adverb : short time before
금방 = adverb : short time before, after short time
철수는 방금(noun)까지 (=방금(adverb)=금방(adverb)) 여기에 있었어.
Chulsoo was here a short time before.
철수가 금방 갈꺼야
Chulsoo will go in a short time.
