The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing application service in a mobile communication system. A method in which a base station provides application service comprises: a step of receiving a request for application service from a mobile terminal; and a step of providing the mobile terminal with the requested application service on the basis of application service information pre-stored in the base station and/or application service information received from an application server, in accordance with whether or not the application service information corresponding to the requested application service is pre-stored in the base station.