A method and apparatus is configured to control a discontinuous reception (DRX) in a mobile communication system. The method includes: interrupting the DRX operation when a radio resource control (RRC) connection reestablishment procedure is initiated; transmitting an RRC connection reestablishment request message from the user equipment to an evolved node B (ENB); receiving an RRC connection reestablishment message from the ENB to the user equipment; and resuming, if the received RRC connection reestablishment message contains new DRX setting information, the interrupted DRX operation according to the new DRX setting information. The DRX operation can be interrupted or resumed at a proper time point when an RRC connection is reestablished or reconfigured or a handover is performed, thereby reducing power consumption in the user equipment.