METHOD FOR CONTROLLING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

A vehicle () is a hybrid vehicle including a traveling mode to travel only with the driving force of a drive motor (). Vehicle () is mounted with an internal combustion engine () capable of being operated at an air-fuel ratio leaner than the theoretical air-fuel ratio. The operation of internal combustion engine () is controlled by a control unit (). Control unit () is configured to determine whether to stop internal combustion engine () in an operation state, in consideration of the NOx adsorption ratio of a downstream-side exhaust purification catalyst () provided in an exhaust passage () of internal combustion engine ().