There is disclosed a mobile terminal for providing a convenient and effective contact management function by providing differentiated services for two or more connected contacts, respectively. To this end, there is provided an operation control method of a mobile terminal, and the method may include displaying a contact list containing a plurality of contacts; designating a first contact in the contact list as a first recipient according to a user's input; designating at least one second contact as a second recipient when there exists the at least one second contact connected to the first contact; and performing a first operation for the first recipient, and performing a second operation subordinate to the first operation for the second recipient.