1. A method for recognizing a character in a portable device, the method comprising: obtaining, in accordance with a character recognition request, an image using a camera of the portable device in a preview mode in which a plurality of images are being sequentially displayed in real time on a display of the portable device; displaying the image obtained in the preview mode and a pointer to represent a location of a character for recognition; performing an auto focus function of the camera to obtain an image having a certain level of clarity of a character at the location of the pointer using the camera; character-recognition-processing the image having the certain level of clarity of the character at the location of the pointer so as to generate recognition result data; and displaying a recognized character row on the display based on the recognition result data.